Newspapers are still going strong

Finnish media advertising market totalled EUR 1.502 million in 2008, being less than 1% of the GDP. Finland has a population of 5.3 million with unique language. Newspapers have traditionally been the strongest – and they still are with the share of 46% of the media advertising. TV's share is some 18% and internet's more than 10% of the pie. A Finn spends totally nearly 8 hours per day with the media. People read newspapers some 30 minutes per day (Helsingin Sanomat is read in average even 40 minutes on weekdays, 57 minutes on Saturdays and 62 minutes on Sundays).

Newspapers 604,5 M €
Free newspapers and handouts 83,2 M €
Magazines 202,9 M €
Printed indexes 94,3 M €
Television 268,1 M €
Radio 50,5 M €
Outdoor 43,8 M €
Movies 3,1 M €
Internet 151,6 M€
Advertising all together 1 502,0 M €

Source:
Kärkimedia/TNS Gallup Media Intelligence 2008

Finland is a country of newspaper readers

Finland is among Japan and Norway a very strong newspaper country.
Newspapers are a part of everyday life in Finland. The Finns read approx. three newspapers / day.

Characteristics of Finnish newspapers:
– high readership loyalty
– broad subscription base

Finns are used to subscribe their newspapers and having them delivered to their homes every morning between 5–7a.m.

Newspapers’ key role in Finns’ daily lives
Newspaper is also read in the morning with the morning coffee. Messages reach the consumers when they have just woken up in the privacy of their home - being the first message of the day. Newspapers are under strong product development -> the brands are expanding to new areas such as internet and supplements. Also the content of the newspaper has traditionally been of good quality. The position of local newspapers in the market areas is stable and strong. Newspaper is still a very functional user interface.

Virtual Finland: The Finnish Media

European Journalism Center

Media Skandinavia: Finland (doc, )

Sanoma Annual Report 2008