Almost 10,000 Finnish subscribers downloaded the new digital evening edition of Hufvudstadsbladet on the day of its premier. The strategy is the first of its kind in the Nordic Region.
In January, the Finnish morning paper Hufvudstadsbladet launched a new digital evening edition that comes out daily at 4 pm. Hbl Kväll, as the evening edition is called, is included in all of the media company's digital packages, and the purpose of the new evening edition is to attract readers to its digital products.
Almost 10,000 downloaded the first issue, a figure that pleases the media company immensely:
"This is more than we've ever signed up before. We're very pleased that so many subscribers have registered digitally," says digital director Fredrik Nars of KSF Media.
"The number of Hbl's digitally active subscribers jumped from 30 percent to 40 percent during the first week, reaching our targets three weeks ahead of time, and that number is rising," says Nars.
According to editor-in-chief Jens Berg, Hbl Kväll is satisfying a demand among readers.
"Hbl has become the first Nordic newspaper to come out twice daily, and this is the result of intensive tests of our readership. Hbl Kväll is hardly the solution to all of the industry's problems, but it does meet a need that many of our current and potential readers have made explicit," Berg explains.
Hbl Kväll provides all of the day's most important news and lists the evening's events and cultural happenings.
"At Hbl Kväll we focus on what's happened throughout the day, but we also look ahead and give tips about TV shows and events. In addition, we offer a digital crossword puzzle, a photo quiz and TV listings," says project manager Andrea Svanbäck.
The evening edition's shorter articles and lighter content are aimed at tired, late afternoon readers.
"The morning edition has developed in a different direction, to provide perspective and background information. The morning edition and Hbl Kväll will sometimes cover the same stories, but they handle them differently. HBL Kväll is set to be a lively, younger sister to the printed morning edition," Berg explains.
The first edition of the new evening paper can be read here.
KSF Media is Finland's leading Swedish-language media company and publishes the country's largest Swedish-language newspaper, Hufvudstadsbladet and the local dailies: Västra Nyland, Hangötidningen, Borgåbladet, Östra Nyland and Loviisan Sanomat, which have a combined circulation of 75,000.
KSF Media has 250 employees and an annual turnover of roughly 30 million €.
