Printing Innovation Asia Issue 3 2021
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We're transferring t into a print form "Video Killed The Radio Star", sang The Buggles in 1980 – but radio is still popular four decades later. "Digital brings print under pressure," is the lament in many quarters of the graphic arts industry – but this is not invariably the case. A typical example of how the new digital world can also boost the print industry is the monthly magazine "Streaming" launched a few weeks ago by the publishing house Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz (and printed, of course). It is a guide to keeping your head above water in the growing market of Netflix, Sky Show, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.
"As with classic TV magazines, we also make recommendations to users of non-linear offerings to help them find their way through the huge jungle of offerings. We transfer the digital world into a print form. Our readers can get an overview of the various streaming providers in the comfort of their sofa with a clear, compact and classy magazine."
"Streaming" presents the best series, films and documentaries from the most important streaming platforms every month on 76 to 84 pages – supplemented with background reports, interviews and star portraits. True to the motto: "See what's worth watching."
Like a media library Leafing through the diverse range of programs at leisure in a printed magazine that plays off the haptic advantages instead of laboriously zapping on the screen with the remote control is the one big advantage of "Streaming" – which in this respect is not much different from a classic TV magazine. However, according to Gion Stecher, the second advantage of the streaming magazine is exclusive: "While the next issue of our weekly “TELE” appears after just one week, 'Streaming' is available on the TV table for a month and is therefore something like a media library.
Diving for pearls in the glossy magazine "We see our glossy magazine as a pearl diver, intended to serve as a guide for readers overwhelmed by the many streaming offerings," says Editor-inChief Gion Stecher. At Ringier, he is also responsible for five classic TV magazines.
In addition to pure program notes, subscribers – the majority of whom are men, by the way – find additional content value in the form of numerous stories. "Our content architecture corresponds to that of classic magazines," says Gion Stecher. "However, we are the only ones in Switzerland to focus fully on streaming. We've broken new ground with this and are still figuring out exactly what our readers want." E-mail newsletter as latest update Included in the subscription price of "Streaming" – 49 francs (about 45 euros) for twelve home-delivered issues per year, Fr. 4.90 for the single issue at the newsstand – is an e-mail newsletter sent once a week. "Because for time reasons," says Gion Stecher, "it is sometimes not possible to bring all the relevant notices in the magazine – either because streaming providers postpone shows or reschedule them at short notice. That's why we bring most important updates in our online
Editor-in-chief Gion Stecher: "'Streaming' is on the TV table for a month and is thus something like a media library."
