The Basler Zeitung is set to take off

 
Daily newspaper, weekend supplement, free newspaper, combined subscription with the SonntagsZeitung: The Basler Zeitung has awakened from its slumber. 
In Basel, there is light at the end of the tunnel once again for the publishing industry. Previously, Basler Medien, the publisher of the *Basler Zeitung* (BaZ), had exercised strategic restraint for an extended period. The industry attributed this hesitation to the aftermath of Basler Medien’s expansion into Zurich—a move that was bold from a journalistic standpoint but financially disastrous—which ended in 2001 with the sale of Jean Frey Verlag. “Never again beyond the Jura Mountains” became the motto from then on. When Mathis Lüdin, publisher of the Basellandschaftliche Zeitung (bz), announced a year ago this spring that he wanted to cooperate with the Mittelland Zeitung, owned by AZ publisher Peter Wanner, rather than with the BaZ, another low point was reached in the “Knee of the Rhine” region. There, the bz was considered the BaZ’s natural partner, and it was believed that it was merely a matter of time before cooperation between city and countryside would, so to speak, develop naturally on the journalistic level.
Lüdin had unexpectedly thwarted the plans of the Basel-based Monopolblatt. The two publishers also crossed swords. Since then, relations between Basel and Liestal have been on hold for an indefinite period. As a result, all of AZ publisher Wanner’s hints that the BaZ might also cooperate with the Mittelland Zeitung went unanswered. The deal between Lüdin and Wanner completely ruled out the Aargau-based publisher as a potential partner for Basel.
After the shock, they took a hard look at the books. Last summer, the publishing house significantly expanded its regional coverage with an enlarged local newsroom and a state-federal desk, set up an independent advertising sales office in Liestal, and further expanded its reach with a weekly high-circulation edition of the BaZ (90,000 copies).
Things have been moving at a rapid pace since this summer break: Starting September 15, the Saturday edition will include an additional insert (see box). At the end of August, plans were announced for the launch of a free newspaper and a new online platform for the BaZ, Berner Zeitung, and Tages-Anzeiger in collaboration with Tamedia. The latest bad news from the Basler Zeitung is the partnership between the BaZ and the SonntagsZeitung in the subscription and reader market. Starting in September, both papers will be available as a combined package at a special price. This is the publisher’s response to growing competition, currently from the Mittelland Zeitung’s new Sunday edition. Together with the Tages-Anzeiger magazine, which has been included with the BaZ since January 2005, the BaZ offers its readers a veritable barrage of Sunday reading material.
It seems they have found the ideal partner in Tamedia to hold their own in the free newspaper market as well as online. In Basel, they are eagerly denying rumors circulating there about a possible stake by the Zurich-based company in the Basel media outlets. And BaZ publisher Matthias Hagemann emphasizes the company’s independence at every opportunity. In any case, his paper is back on track.
René Worni
A Bountiful Sunday of Reading at the «Knee of the Rhine» The Basel Media Group took its time responding to the changes in the Sunday market. Publisher Matthias Hagemann believed that launching a separate Sunday edition under the BaZ banner was feasible, but only at a loss. Based on reader surveys, the decision was made to expand the Saturday edition. One day before the Mittelland Zeitung’s Sunday edition, the BaZ will be published for the first time with an additional sixth section titled “Wochenende.”.
More than half of the BaZ's readership
are female readers. For project manager Markus Jörin, this makes it clear that «we want to focus more on a female audience.» The average eight-to-twelve-page issue is all about living together. The topics revolve around relationships, parenting, leisure, and trends. Jörin says the expansion isn’t a huge deal. It’s still possible to launch a Sunday newspaper, but they don’t want to “force” the readers, as happened with the Mittelland Zeitung, where the subscription price was raised accordingly later on. Jörin knows his opponents
He’s doing very well in the Sunday newspaper business, but expects the publishing houses involved to coexist without any problems. Before taking his job at the BaZ as head of reader marketing, he served on the Mittelland Zeitung’s executive committee for four years. It remains to be seen whether the concentrated dose of Sunday reading (the BaZ weekend supplement, the SonntagsZeitung as part of a combined subscription, and Das Magazin) will attract many new readers in Basel. With combined subscriptions, Tamedia
As a new Espace owner, she is currently living in Solothurn, where she has a subscription to the *Solothurner Tagblatt* and the *SoZ* at a discount of about 80 percent for 100 francs. Apparently, this wasn’t enough to create a sensation among readers, as those in charge plan to decide by the end of September whether to continue the offer. (rw)