Doomed to success
Regional Newspapers Tamedia has launched its four new regional editions of the *Tages-Anzeiger*. The battle for market share is on.
Regional newspapers Tamedia has launched its four new regional editions for the Tages-Anzeiger. The cut-throat battle has begun. The editorial teams of the four new regional offshoots of the Tamedia flagship in Bülach, Stäfa, Uster and in the city of Zurich have been preparing for a month and got started on November 6. On the left bank of the lake in the district of Horgen, a test editorial team has already been working since March 2005. The only thing that had to be done there was to switch from tabloid to broadsheet from the parent newspaper. As is well known, the regional editions figure as an additional regional bundle in the Tages-Anzeiger and are only available on paper - for logistical reasons - in the corresponding catchment areas.Initial effectsThe test editorial team on the left bank of the lake has had an initial effect: although the volume of advertisements has so far been modest, the reason for the regional strategy, the decline in circulation of the Tages-Anzeiger, has been halted. If this effect also occurs in the other regions, the goals of the first round of strategy will have been achieved. It is well known that the Tages-Anzeiger is suffering from declining circulation and a poor reach of only 36 percent in the core area of Zurich, which has millions of inhabitants, compared to other daily newspapers.
The second step in this long-term strategy is the displacement of the traditional Zurich regional newspapers. It is assumed in the industry that Tamedia will spend far more than just under ten million francs, as the media company once vaguely communicated the costs of the offensive. Distribution and the financing of the new editorial offices are the main costs. At the most recent meeting of the editors-in-chief, Tagi publishing director and regional strategist Rolf Bollmann presented this aspect bluntly, as did ZSZ publishing director Erland Herkenrath in a recent discussion published in the Zürcher Landzeitung. "I see the only opportunity for growth in the Zurich area. So the Tagi has to regionalize ... at the expense of the regional press."
For Bollmann, it is clear that Tamedia should have launched regionalization years earlier. The irony of the story: thirty years ago, publisher Hans Heinrich Coninx was already working on a secret project. Bollmann is now the executor, so to speak, who is basing his strategy on other concepts, some of which have been waiting in Tamedia's drawers for ten years.
The busy publishing director reckons that in the reader market, the public will opt for the Tages-Anzeiger in the long term. "If the journalistic and editorial performance of our editorial teams is roughly the same as that of the competition, the better cover section of the Tages-Anzeiger should be the deciding factor for readers to switch," he says. But sometimes Bollmann also doubts whether this quality is even in demand among readers.
However, the Tagi local editorial offices are not in a bad position. After all, alongside experienced and long-serving Tagi journalists, the editorial team in Bülach, for example, includes people who previously worked as journalists at the Unterländer. For the Tagi regional editorial office in Uster, 5 out of 35 people from the Zürcher Oberländer have changed sides, and there have been smaller shifts on both shores of the lake, with know-how moving from the Zürichsee-Zeitung to the Tagi.
From a journalistic point of view, one of the biggest difficulties remains the triage of topics between the Zürich-Bund and the regional sections of the Tages-Anzeiger. There is no concept for this. The topicality and quality of the stories decide what negotiations between the editorial teams mean.
Regional newspapers remain calm And what is the first impression of the Zurich regional newspapers? "You can't reinvent local journalism," says Christine Fivian, long-time editor-in-chief of the Unterländer and familiar with the local trade since time immemorial. On the journalistic side, she has no concerns, there are more people and more to offer. "There is normal competition. We have to be faster, and I hope we can manage that," says Fivian. Ultimately, however, financial stamina is crucial.
On the right bank of Lake Zurich, too, the tense anticipation at the headquarters of the Zürichsee-Zeitung in Stäfa eased after the publication of the first Tagi regional edition. "There was nothing in it that could have worried us, stories that we didn't have," says ZSZ editor-in-chief Benjamin Geiger. The situation is similar to that at the start of the test editorial office on the left bank of the lake. "We can handle it well," says Geiger. On the other side of the lake, people are also somewhat disillusioned by the thin broadsheet of the new Tagi-Bund compared to the previous tabloid edition.
Editor-in-chief of the Zürcher Oberländer Christoph Vollenweider does not yet want to comment on the first Tagi issues. "It's still too early to judge." He shares the disillusionment of the other editorial teams of the three Zurich regional newspapers that the Tages-Anzeiger has not come up with any more content in view of the extended preparation phase. The Tages-Anzeiger will not be rewarded for the painstaking work of establishing itself with the population in the regions.
At least the response in the city of Zurich to the Tagi split from the associations was positive. However, the traditional newspapers are well aware of the threat. Even if competition stimulates business: the Tages-Anzeiger will remain, probably forever. "The scenario is doomed to success," says Benjamin Geiger.
Welcome to Uster In Uster
the Tagi may have an advantage. Observers believe that the new SP city government under Mayor Martin Bornhauser is hardly adequately represented in the Anzeiger von Uster, the front page of the Zürcher Oberländer. The town is undersupplied with local media. When the city administration, suffering from a lack of space, wanted to rent the same premises as Tamedia for its new local editorial office, the city is said to have given way to the Tages-Anzeiger. The Tagi is obviously very welcome in Uster. Christian Vollenweider, editor-in-chief of the Zürcher Oberländer, confirms the matter. Following the change of editor-in-chief at the Oberländer, the paper has moved away from its strictly liberal stance and is now striving for journalistic openness. "If the city government feels underrepresented, you have to correct that," says Vollenweider. René Worni
The second step in this long-term strategy is the displacement of the traditional Zurich regional newspapers. It is assumed in the industry that Tamedia will spend far more than just under ten million francs, as the media company once vaguely communicated the costs of the offensive. Distribution and the financing of the new editorial offices are the main costs. At the most recent meeting of the editors-in-chief, Tagi publishing director and regional strategist Rolf Bollmann presented this aspect bluntly, as did ZSZ publishing director Erland Herkenrath in a recent discussion published in the Zürcher Landzeitung. "I see the only opportunity for growth in the Zurich area. So the Tagi has to regionalize ... at the expense of the regional press."
For Bollmann, it is clear that Tamedia should have launched regionalization years earlier. The irony of the story: thirty years ago, publisher Hans Heinrich Coninx was already working on a secret project. Bollmann is now the executor, so to speak, who is basing his strategy on other concepts, some of which have been waiting in Tamedia's drawers for ten years.
The busy publishing director reckons that in the reader market, the public will opt for the Tages-Anzeiger in the long term. "If the journalistic and editorial performance of our editorial teams is roughly the same as that of the competition, the better cover section of the Tages-Anzeiger should be the deciding factor for readers to switch," he says. But sometimes Bollmann also doubts whether this quality is even in demand among readers.
However, the Tagi local editorial offices are not in a bad position. After all, alongside experienced and long-serving Tagi journalists, the editorial team in Bülach, for example, includes people who previously worked as journalists at the Unterländer. For the Tagi regional editorial office in Uster, 5 out of 35 people from the Zürcher Oberländer have changed sides, and there have been smaller shifts on both shores of the lake, with know-how moving from the Zürichsee-Zeitung to the Tagi.
From a journalistic point of view, one of the biggest difficulties remains the triage of topics between the Zürich-Bund and the regional sections of the Tages-Anzeiger. There is no concept for this. The topicality and quality of the stories decide what negotiations between the editorial teams mean.
Regional newspapers remain calm And what is the first impression of the Zurich regional newspapers? "You can't reinvent local journalism," says Christine Fivian, long-time editor-in-chief of the Unterländer and familiar with the local trade since time immemorial. On the journalistic side, she has no concerns, there are more people and more to offer. "There is normal competition. We have to be faster, and I hope we can manage that," says Fivian. Ultimately, however, financial stamina is crucial.
On the right bank of Lake Zurich, too, the tense anticipation at the headquarters of the Zürichsee-Zeitung in Stäfa eased after the publication of the first Tagi regional edition. "There was nothing in it that could have worried us, stories that we didn't have," says ZSZ editor-in-chief Benjamin Geiger. The situation is similar to that at the start of the test editorial office on the left bank of the lake. "We can handle it well," says Geiger. On the other side of the lake, people are also somewhat disillusioned by the thin broadsheet of the new Tagi-Bund compared to the previous tabloid edition.
Editor-in-chief of the Zürcher Oberländer Christoph Vollenweider does not yet want to comment on the first Tagi issues. "It's still too early to judge." He shares the disillusionment of the other editorial teams of the three Zurich regional newspapers that the Tages-Anzeiger has not come up with any more content in view of the extended preparation phase. The Tages-Anzeiger will not be rewarded for the painstaking work of establishing itself with the population in the regions.
At least the response in the city of Zurich to the Tagi split from the associations was positive. However, the traditional newspapers are well aware of the threat. Even if competition stimulates business: the Tages-Anzeiger will remain, probably forever. "The scenario is doomed to success," says Benjamin Geiger.
Welcome to Uster In Uster
the Tagi may have an advantage. Observers believe that the new SP city government under Mayor Martin Bornhauser is hardly adequately represented in the Anzeiger von Uster, the front page of the Zürcher Oberländer. The town is undersupplied with local media. When the city administration, suffering from a lack of space, wanted to rent the same premises as Tamedia for its new local editorial office, the city is said to have given way to the Tages-Anzeiger. The Tagi is obviously very welcome in Uster. Christian Vollenweider, editor-in-chief of the Zürcher Oberländer, confirms the matter. Following the change of editor-in-chief at the Oberländer, the paper has moved away from its strictly liberal stance and is now striving for journalistic openness. "If the city government feels underrepresented, you have to correct that," says Vollenweider. René Worni
