GOOD NEWS FROM MOSCOW

I am in Moscow for the new two days speaking at the 2006 Russian Publishing Conference and Expo organized by the Russian Newspaper Publishers Association (GIPP).

Timothy Balding , the first speaker, CEO of the World association of Newspaper (WAN) told the audience that Russia will become the fastest growing newspaper market of the world.

Some interesting data from his presentation:

-Newspapers are now a 180 billion USD global industry, reaching daily more than 1,2 billion readers.

-Rupter Murdoch is investing almost 1 billion USD in the new printing presses for his newspapers in the UK.

-The Courier and Mail in Australia is becoming the most successful case of the new "compact" newspapers with a 158% circulation growth.

-Free newspapers are now the circulation leaders right now in Denmark, Switzerland and Spain.

-Free papers capture in Demark 64% of the total circulation of the newspaper market, and 54% in Spain.

Timothy Balding said also that free newspapers are "inspiration for traditional newspapers."