The Press Market in Israel Introduction and History

Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, newspapers and magazines have catered to immigrants from many countries, including survivors of the Holocaust and refugees from Arab countries. Local newspapers have been published in Hebrew, German, Hungarian, Arabic, Yiddish, Romanian, Polish, Bulgarian, Ladino, English and French, among other languages. At the same time, imported press has also been distributed. Many newspapers were originally associated with political parties, but this trend has decreased with the changing political landscape, as well as with the acquisition of the major papers by media conglomerates in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, the four big Hebrew dailies as well as the main English daily, all established before the State of Israel was founded, are owned by large private companies. Israel’s population currently stands at nearly 6,5million people, of whom 80% are Jews and 16% are Moslems. The newspaper market is hotly contested, with Hebrew national dailies vying with Arabic, English and Russian newspapers as well as a host of weekly and local publications. Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics lists the number of newspapers and magazines published in Israel at 1.100. Most of these are Hebrew magazines. Following the global trend the number of subscriptions for daily newspapers far exceeds those sold in retail outlets.

Newspapers
The leading Hebrew dailies are Yedioth Ahronoth, Maariv, Haaretzand Globes (a financial paper), while the leading foreign language dailies are the Jerusalem Post(in English and French), the International Herald Tribune (published in Israel by Haaretz),and Vesti and Novostiin Russian. TGI, an Israeli market research company, in its survey on media trends in 2005, estimates the Hebrew market share of Yediothto be 56.4% for its dailies (58.5% for weekend editions), compared to 29.7% for Maariv, 9.5% for Haaretzand 4.4% for Globes. There is a large number of regional papers catering to specific cities, towns, and smaller settlements. These are either sold on their own, as supplements to daily papers or distributed free of charge. In January 2006, an abridged version of the daily paper Israeli News started being distributed for free at railway stations, followed by bus stations.

Magazines
While historically most of the magazines sold in Israel were imported, in recent years an increasing number of titles have appeared in Hebrew, replacing the imported ones. A growing number of printing presses have sprung up in Israel with state of the art printing capabilities. Over the years, several independent magazines have closed down, while others have become weekend supplements for daily papers. Magazine publishing focuses mainly on women’s, children’s and interior decoration and home design magazines,while also TV guides listing the schedules of the many cable TV stationsoffered in Israel (in many languages) have a wide distribution. Hebrew crossword puzzles are very popular, with a variety of magazines. In 2005 the Sudoku craze led to monthly sales of thousands of locally published Sudoku titles. Traditionally, local guides to weddings are a must for Israeli couples as they include venues, caterers, and dress makers. A recent trend in Hebrew magazine publishing is the growing number of arts and crafts titles, while comics have a limited market. Licensed translation of international magazines into Hebrew has contributed to a reduction in imported titles. The SBC Group (Strategy Business Communications) publishes over 20 magazines, including Hebrew version of Cosmopolitan, Forbes, PC Magazine andMountain Bike Action. Also a Hebrew edition of National Geographicis published in Israel. For the more than a million Jews from the former Soviet Union living in Israel there are several Russian magazines.

Freedom of the Press
Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) describes the Israeli media as «traditionally robust and independent», and the press is widely held to reflect a broad spectrum of views. The RSF placed Israel 37th in its 2004 world press freedom rankings. Israeli media is special in the sense that this is a rather small country where the media has importance both on national and international level – as one of the most media covered state in the world.

Imported Press
A large number of foreign dailies are on sale, most from Britain, France, Germany and Italy. The International Herald Tribuneis printed locally, while The Wall Street Journaland USA Today are both printed in Europe. There are approximately 1.000 imported titles in many languages (English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Arabic) covering many categories. The largest category of imported magazines is women-focused titles, others are titles for men, auto, sports, electronics, science, computers and photography magazines. Also a favourite among imports are magazines dealing with arts and crafts. The series of Palestinian terrorist attacks in 2000–2004 resulted in a near halt of foreign tourism, which significantly impacted Israel’s economy and lowered sales. With the increase in tourism in 2005 sales look better again.

Distribution of Press in Israel
Precise circulation figures are difficult to obtain as there is no official ABC data on the Israeli market. Business Data Israel (BDI) estimates the annual income of Israeli distribution companies at 700 million New Israeli Shekels (NIS). The five largest distributors are Yedioth Group (approximately 35%), Maariv (20%), Haaretz (15%), Bar Group (15–20%), Steimatzky (10–15%). Yedioth, Maariv and Haaretz distribute their own publications only, both to subscribers and retail outlets, Bar distributes mainly local dailies and magazines both to points of sale and subscribers. Steimatzky distributes imported news- papers and magazines (60%) and locally published magazines (40%) to points of sale throughout the country and to bookstores, including its own and franchised stores. Supermarket chains have increased their market share in recent years, often at the expense of the many oldfashioned street vendors and kiosks. Also publishers have increased their efforts on subscriptions. Regional wholesalers and smaller distributors have closed down or ceased operations, mainly due to the small size of the market. The total number of outlets, including stores selling one or two Hebrew dailies, is estimated at 4.000 (BDI). Hebrew papers and monthlies are sold mainly through kiosks, supermarkets, mini-markets, marketing chains (Ace, Home Depot, Superpharm, etc.) and small grocery stores. Kiosks are located all over Israel, including in central bus stations and railway stations. Imported magazines in English, French, German, Spanish, etc. are sold at high-end bookstores (on main streets and in shopping centers), particularly at Steimatzky bookstores, a chain of over 150 stores with a large selection of foreign language books. Other outlets are at airports, hotels and other tourist locations. The Internet has greatly affected the newspaper market. Competition from other advertising channels, mainly television and the Internet, has adversely affected the advertising income of newspapers and magazines. As a result of loss of readership and advertising, in 2005, major publishers such as Yedioth, Maariv and Haaretz, have reduced the number of journalists and staff, cut the number of pages and cut salaries for the remaining staff. Additional causes of decline in press sales are the closing of small kiosks on main streets and the increased popularity of large air-conditioned shopping centers, where customers have parking, but where rents are very high considering the discounts offered by press distributors.

Author: Bradford Rothschild