The bz moves to Basel
High Circulation: A New Round of Competition in the Basel Region: The Basellandschaftliche Zeitung is now making inroads into BaZ territory—with a more affordable subscription.
Large print runs A new round of fighting in the Basel region: The Basellandschaftliche Zeitung is now also making inroads into BaZ territory - with a cheaper subscription.At Hülftenschanz near Frenkendorf BL in 1833, troops from Basel's rural communities inflicted a bitter defeat on the city of Basel, thus sealing the division of the region into two half-cantons. It is no coincidence that this historic site also formed a kind of demarcation line between the Basler Zeitung (BaZ) and the Basellandschaftliche Zeitung (bz): To the west of the Schanz begins the district of Arlesheim, where the BaZ has its highest distribution density at 38 percent. On the other side are the districts that are fully covered by the bz with its Wednesday large print run. bz had to expect a reaction from the BaZ when it launched its own Friday large print run (90,000 copies) for the bz area in September 2006 and thus crossed the symbolic border. This will now take place on December 6: the bz is entering the Arlesheim district, i.e. BaZ's home territory, with its large print run, but initially only in the municipalities of Reinach, Arlesheim and Aesch (around 30 percent of all households in the district). "We have so far spared the agglomeration close to the city, but now we have no more inhibitions," says bz publisher Mathis Lüdin.
However, in order for the bz to cover the three highly populated municipalities, a major effort is required. Firstly, the Liestal paper has to increase its large print run by 9,000 to 90,000 copies, which is not enough. Because its own printing plant is no longer able to cope, the bz is forced to give up its large circulation in the Schwarzbubenland region of Solothurn and distribute the freed-up copies in the BaZ home region. Despite the 10 percent increase in large circulation, the previous advertising rate will be maintained, Lüdin emphasizes.
Lüdin has even more arrows in his quiver: as BaZ had terminated the joint job market at the end of November, from next week the bz will include the job supplement of the MittellandZeitung (MZ) association, entitled Stellenmarkt Nordwestschweiz. In addition, the bz is part of the new print and online classifieds market "a-z" launched by the MZ.
In general, Lüdin seems quite confident. Probably also because only around 10 instead of the expected 200 subscription cancellations have been received since the bz connection to the MZ. In addition, the bz has gained 120 new subscribers and 500 trial subscriptions, says Lüdin. But he knows that the moment of truth is only now beginning, in the general subscription renewal phase. He also has a trump card for this: despite the MZ cover, the bz subscription still costs CHF 318, CHF 30 less than that of the BaZ. What's more, after the resignation of Ivo Bachmann, the latter is absorbed with the search for a new editor-in-chief.
Markus Knöpfli
However, in order for the bz to cover the three highly populated municipalities, a major effort is required. Firstly, the Liestal paper has to increase its large print run by 9,000 to 90,000 copies, which is not enough. Because its own printing plant is no longer able to cope, the bz is forced to give up its large circulation in the Schwarzbubenland region of Solothurn and distribute the freed-up copies in the BaZ home region. Despite the 10 percent increase in large circulation, the previous advertising rate will be maintained, Lüdin emphasizes.
Lüdin has even more arrows in his quiver: as BaZ had terminated the joint job market at the end of November, from next week the bz will include the job supplement of the MittellandZeitung (MZ) association, entitled Stellenmarkt Nordwestschweiz. In addition, the bz is part of the new print and online classifieds market "a-z" launched by the MZ.
In general, Lüdin seems quite confident. Probably also because only around 10 instead of the expected 200 subscription cancellations have been received since the bz connection to the MZ. In addition, the bz has gained 120 new subscribers and 500 trial subscriptions, says Lüdin. But he knows that the moment of truth is only now beginning, in the general subscription renewal phase. He also has a trump card for this: despite the MZ cover, the bz subscription still costs CHF 318, CHF 30 less than that of the BaZ. What's more, after the resignation of Ivo Bachmann, the latter is absorbed with the search for a new editor-in-chief.
Markus Knöpfli
