News also shifts down a gear
One year after its launch, the free newspaper News must thoroughly revise its overly optimistic expectations—just as its competitor .ch did before it.
According to the publishers, the free newspaper News has distributed 334,000 copies since its launch, including 42,000 in Basel, 60,000 in Berne, 100,000 in Zurich and 132,000 in the Mittelland region. The publishers involved, Tamedia and Basler Zeitung Medien, assumed that their paper would reach two readers per copy (LpE) in the medium term, i.e. a total of 668,000 readers. This figure has now been revised downwards. "Based on a readership study, News reached 283,000 readers from May to July," says André Hardmeier, Head of Advertising Market at News Print. That makes around 1.0 LpE. News has therefore already reduced its main rate as of November 1: A 1/1 page vf in the entire issue now costs CHF 13,600 instead of CHF 22,000, a reduction of 38.1 percent.
A conceptual optimization is also on the agenda: The Mittelland edition will be discontinued at the beginning of December, while the three other splits will expand their area. News Zürich, for example, will now be distributed as far as Aarau and Baden, News Basel in the northern part of Aargau and News Bern in Solothurn. Accordingly, the circulation of News Basel will be increased to 55,000 copies and that of News Zürich to 185,000 copies, while the circulation of News Bern will also extend to Solothurn. The total circulation is now 300,000 copies. The Mittelland can no longer be booked separately, but News Zürich now also includes copies in Aarau and Baden - at the same price as before. The same applies to News Basel and News Bern. The reason, according to Hardmeier: News is to be linked more closely to the three parent titles Tages-Anzeiger, Berner Zeitung and Basler Zeitung, and News and the online portal Newsnetz are to be linked more closely. Up to now, brand management and a combined offering were hardly possible without the parent title.
Markus Knöpfli
A conceptual optimization is also on the agenda: The Mittelland edition will be discontinued at the beginning of December, while the three other splits will expand their area. News Zürich, for example, will now be distributed as far as Aarau and Baden, News Basel in the northern part of Aargau and News Bern in Solothurn. Accordingly, the circulation of News Basel will be increased to 55,000 copies and that of News Zürich to 185,000 copies, while the circulation of News Bern will also extend to Solothurn. The total circulation is now 300,000 copies. The Mittelland can no longer be booked separately, but News Zürich now also includes copies in Aarau and Baden - at the same price as before. The same applies to News Basel and News Bern. The reason, according to Hardmeier: News is to be linked more closely to the three parent titles Tages-Anzeiger, Berner Zeitung and Basler Zeitung, and News and the online portal Newsnetz are to be linked more closely. Up to now, brand management and a combined offering were hardly possible without the parent title.
Markus Knöpfli
