Free newspaper .ch to be discontinued - 61 jobs cut
The free newspaper .ch is being discontinued effective immediately; today, Monday, marks the publication of its final issue. The board of directors no longer sees any possibility of turning the newspaper a profit by 2011 as planned. Sixty-one positions will be cut, affecting 69 people from the editorial and publishing departments. Given the recent increase in readership, there is a great deal of dismay in the newsroom, said Editor-in-Chief Rolf Leeb.
Publication of the free newspaper .ch will cease with immediate effect and the last issue will be published on Monday, May 4. This was decided by the Board of Directors of Punkt ch AG after intensive discussions about the very difficult economic environment and the uncertain outlook, the company writes in a press release on Monday. The extent of the recessionary development could not have been foreseen during the relaunch in October 2008. In view of the severity of the economic crisis and the uncertainty about its duration, the Board of Directors no longer considers it realistic that .ch will reach the profit zone by the end of 2011 as planned. Investors would now have to inject large sums in the double-digit millions. They are not prepared to do this, Buob told SDA. The decision to definitively discontinue .ch is now subject to the participation rights of employees, who can make suggestions to save the newspaper.
" Discontinuation of .ch: trade unions demand social plan
The layoffs will affect 69 employees in the editorial and publishing departments. A total of 61 jobs will be cut. The free newspaper .ch, which is one hundred percent financed by advertising, was first published in mid-September 2007. After a difficult start-up phase, it was relaunched in October 2008. The new editorial concept and the exclusive distribution via boxes and colporteurs led to the number of daily readers almost doubling to around 400,000 within just a few months, the publisher continues. Due to the recession, however, the development of advertising was below plan.
Great consternation on the editorial team
Editor-in-chief Rolf Leeb said at the request of the SDA that the editorial team was deeply saddened. After the successful restart, the company was "well on the way, confident and full of energy". However, in view of the economic situation, he has a certain understanding for the decision of the Board of Directors.
No impact on the Tamedia free title News
Following the end of .ch, three national free newspapers now remain on the Swiss free newspaper market: Market leader 20 Minuten, News and Blick am Abend. The decision of the Board of Directors of .ch has no impact on News, Tamedia spokesperson Christoph Zimmer told Werbewoche. "And although it is often claimed, it is not true that News was launched as a competitor to .ch." The aim of News is to strengthen the media networks of the three daily newspapers Tages-Anzeiger, Berner Zeitung and Basler Zeitung. Commenting on the end of .ch, Zimmer says that as the number of titles continued to grow, it soon became clear that the market was too small for so many commuter newspapers. "Against this background, the end of .ch in the midst of the economic crisis comes as no surprise."
.ch was only able to survive for just over 1 1/2 years
.ch first appeared in mid-September 2007. After a difficult start-up phase and the failure of the home delivery concept, the newspaper was relaunched in October 2008. The shareholders had planned to increase the share capital of the old company from ten to 18 million francs. However, this plan failed due to the will of the investors. They only approved five million francs. Since its relaunch, the free daily newspaper has appeared in around 2000 newspaper boxes in public places in several Swiss cities.
" Last issue of .ch (Zurich)
" Discontinuation of .ch: trade unions demand social plan
The layoffs will affect 69 employees in the editorial and publishing departments. A total of 61 jobs will be cut. The free newspaper .ch, which is one hundred percent financed by advertising, was first published in mid-September 2007. After a difficult start-up phase, it was relaunched in October 2008. The new editorial concept and the exclusive distribution via boxes and colporteurs led to the number of daily readers almost doubling to around 400,000 within just a few months, the publisher continues. Due to the recession, however, the development of advertising was below plan.
Great consternation on the editorial team
Editor-in-chief Rolf Leeb said at the request of the SDA that the editorial team was deeply saddened. After the successful restart, the company was "well on the way, confident and full of energy". However, in view of the economic situation, he has a certain understanding for the decision of the Board of Directors.
No impact on the Tamedia free title News
Following the end of .ch, three national free newspapers now remain on the Swiss free newspaper market: Market leader 20 Minuten, News and Blick am Abend. The decision of the Board of Directors of .ch has no impact on News, Tamedia spokesperson Christoph Zimmer told Werbewoche. "And although it is often claimed, it is not true that News was launched as a competitor to .ch." The aim of News is to strengthen the media networks of the three daily newspapers Tages-Anzeiger, Berner Zeitung and Basler Zeitung. Commenting on the end of .ch, Zimmer says that as the number of titles continued to grow, it soon became clear that the market was too small for so many commuter newspapers. "Against this background, the end of .ch in the midst of the economic crisis comes as no surprise."
.ch was only able to survive for just over 1 1/2 years
.ch first appeared in mid-September 2007. After a difficult start-up phase and the failure of the home delivery concept, the newspaper was relaunched in October 2008. The shareholders had planned to increase the share capital of the old company from ten to 18 million francs. However, this plan failed due to the will of the investors. They only approved five million francs. Since its relaunch, the free daily newspaper has appeared in around 2000 newspaper boxes in public places in several Swiss cities.
" Last issue of .ch (Zurich)
