In order to put things in perspective, the popularity of the principal types of media will be discussed in this part of the paper. To accomplish that a look at the general use of the different types of media in Switzerland is needed:
General use of the different types of media in Switzerland
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That graphic shows that the written press is still very much appreciated in Switzerland. Almost 98 % of the people read it. This is a tremendous number and it shows that the press is still a part of the everyday life of the Swiss citizen. The fact is that no other country in Europe has such a density in number of newspapers per inhabitant. The population in Switzerland reads the newspaper 38 minutes pro day in average.
After the newspapers comes the television. Almost 88% of the people in Switzerland watch it regularly. The difference between newspapers and television in pretty significant as it is a percentage of 10%. Even though people spend a lot more time watching TV than reading the paper this difference shows that newspapers have a privileged place in the media landscape in Switzerland.
The television is followed by the radio, which is used by 80% of the Swiss citizens. Then in fourth place comes the Internet with 68%. This number is growing quickly, but the Internet is still trailing the newspapers by a large number today (numbers from 2008). The real question is if the Internet is ever going to catch up with the popularity of the newspapers and if yes, how much time will it take. The newspapers now have an advantage that is vital to their survival, and when the Internet catches up it will become even more difficult for them to survive.
13 Source: MA Strategy 2008
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