The NZZ swallows the NBT
Regional Press: More Than Just a Partnership: The Neue Bülacher Tagblatt (NBT) is being acquired by the Unterländer (NZZ).
Regional press More than mere cooperation: The Neue Bülacher Tagblatt (NBT) is being taken over by the Unterländer (NZZ). "The two former competitors Neues Bülacher Tagblatt and Zürcher Unterländer are joining forces." These were the opening words of a press release published by the Graf printing company in Bülach and Zürcher Unterland Medien (ZUM) in Dielsdorf on July 26. It described the "alliance" as a close editorial and technical collaboration, which would culminate in a headline system under ZUM management from November. It was also emphasized that the Neue Bülacher Tagblatt (NBT) would remain as a title and that its owners, the brothers Karl-Heinz and Dieter Graf, would remain on the Board of Directors. The cooperation was justified with economic considerations. The forthcoming Tamedia regional strategy is likely to be a further reason for the rapprochement, although a press release written in this way leaves room for speculation. The Tages-Anzeiger, for example, stated with regard to NBT: "The local newspaper is losing its independence." And the NZZ also speculated: "Further future integration steps appear likely."
It is now clear that both are correct. Much more has already been sealed than communicated. PubliPresse General Director Otto Meier, for example, hints in an interview that the merger is a "takeover" of NBT by ZUM. Meier will know, as PubliGroupe is known to hold 60 percent of ZUM's share capital. For more precise details, however, Meier refers to ZUM Managing Director Erland Herkenrath - but he does not want to confirm a takeover. Neither does Karl-Heinz Graf. "We don't want to give any information about that," he says. "We have agreed not to disclose anything," says Herkenrath. Which means nothing has been denied. It can therefore be assumed that ZUM will at least hold a majority stake in the Graf printing company - and that this stake will be integrated into NZZ's Freie Presse Holding, which holds 40 percent of ZUM. This is also indicated by the fact that changes are imminent on the NBT Board of Directors. According to Karl-Heinz Graf, his father Heini Graf, one of the former owners of the publishing house, is stepping down from the three-member board, and it is quite possible that the board will be expanded.
It is also certain that from November 1, the NBT will take over the layout of the Zürcher Unterländer (ZU), which has already been identical to that of the Zürisee-Zeitung and the Zürcher Oberländer for a year. What's more, as of October 3, the Züriland newspapers will create a joint editorial team for the Canton of Zurich, foreign and domestic sections, and later also for sports - the NBT will also take over the mantle. The consequence: in future, the NBT will only differ from its competitor ZU and the other Züriland newspapers in the newspaper header, on the front page and in the local section. But Graf points out: "The existing editorial team will remain responsible for the NBT, so the NBT's unique features and trenchant commentary, which are highly valued by readers, will not be missing."
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how this alignment with the ZU in terms of appearance and content will be received by the approximately 5,000 NBT subscribers. After all, the two newspapers have so far differed mainly in political terms: there is a gulf between the NBT, which has a clear right-wing, bourgeois orientation, and the more liberal ZU. It is therefore possible that the NBT will sooner or later be completely absorbed by the ZU if the NBT readership drops off. However, Erland Herkenrath does not want to get involved in such a discussion. "I don't know what the situation will look like in five years' time. For the time being, however, we are continuing with the concept of two separate titles, because if the readerships are very different, it would be wrong to merge the papers," he says.
The integration into the overall Züriland newspaper system also means that the NBT will no longer be produced at the NZZ, but on the printing presses in Oetwil, in the joint printing center of the Züriland newspapers. In addition, the NBT will become part of the Züriland advertisement combination, which means that it will lose its autonomy.
Increased reachHowever, the weekly NBT large circulation (33,000 copies) hardly makes sense any more and will probably be discontinued at the end of the year. According to Herkenrath, however, the ZU will expand the existing large circulation somewhat and also cover communities that were previously served exclusively by the NBT.
However, the cooperation not only enables synergies and cost reductions, it also gives the new headline paper a greater reach - for example in the town of Bülach: both NBT and ZU each had around 2500 subscribers there due to their different political orientations - double subscriptions are rare. Now they can offer twice the distribution density there, an undeniable advantage in view of Tamedia's regional strategy.
But that is only one side of the coin. From ZU's point of view, the NBT takeover prevented an equally conceivable rapprochement between Landbote and NBT - and thus an intrusion by Landbote into ZU's territory.
Markus Knöpfli
A partner in the Limmat Valley is missing To cover the whole area
To cover the area around the city of Zurich, the Züriland-Kombi needs a fourth partner in the Limmat Valley. The Limmattaler Tagblatt (LT), which belongs to the Mittelland Zeitung (MZ) and with which a loose editorial cooperation already exists, would be an obvious choice. But Beat Lauber, who is responsible for regional newspapers at the NZZ Group, waves it off: "At the moment, no talks are being held with the aim of linking the LT to the Züriland-Kleeblatt. "But if this wish were to arise at LT, we would not turn our backs on it," he adds. However, there is no reason to do so as long as the Tages-Anzeiger in the Limmat Valley refrains from a regional split and the MZ continues to do its job as well as before. (mk)
It is now clear that both are correct. Much more has already been sealed than communicated. PubliPresse General Director Otto Meier, for example, hints in an interview that the merger is a "takeover" of NBT by ZUM. Meier will know, as PubliGroupe is known to hold 60 percent of ZUM's share capital. For more precise details, however, Meier refers to ZUM Managing Director Erland Herkenrath - but he does not want to confirm a takeover. Neither does Karl-Heinz Graf. "We don't want to give any information about that," he says. "We have agreed not to disclose anything," says Herkenrath. Which means nothing has been denied. It can therefore be assumed that ZUM will at least hold a majority stake in the Graf printing company - and that this stake will be integrated into NZZ's Freie Presse Holding, which holds 40 percent of ZUM. This is also indicated by the fact that changes are imminent on the NBT Board of Directors. According to Karl-Heinz Graf, his father Heini Graf, one of the former owners of the publishing house, is stepping down from the three-member board, and it is quite possible that the board will be expanded.
It is also certain that from November 1, the NBT will take over the layout of the Zürcher Unterländer (ZU), which has already been identical to that of the Zürisee-Zeitung and the Zürcher Oberländer for a year. What's more, as of October 3, the Züriland newspapers will create a joint editorial team for the Canton of Zurich, foreign and domestic sections, and later also for sports - the NBT will also take over the mantle. The consequence: in future, the NBT will only differ from its competitor ZU and the other Züriland newspapers in the newspaper header, on the front page and in the local section. But Graf points out: "The existing editorial team will remain responsible for the NBT, so the NBT's unique features and trenchant commentary, which are highly valued by readers, will not be missing."
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how this alignment with the ZU in terms of appearance and content will be received by the approximately 5,000 NBT subscribers. After all, the two newspapers have so far differed mainly in political terms: there is a gulf between the NBT, which has a clear right-wing, bourgeois orientation, and the more liberal ZU. It is therefore possible that the NBT will sooner or later be completely absorbed by the ZU if the NBT readership drops off. However, Erland Herkenrath does not want to get involved in such a discussion. "I don't know what the situation will look like in five years' time. For the time being, however, we are continuing with the concept of two separate titles, because if the readerships are very different, it would be wrong to merge the papers," he says.
The integration into the overall Züriland newspaper system also means that the NBT will no longer be produced at the NZZ, but on the printing presses in Oetwil, in the joint printing center of the Züriland newspapers. In addition, the NBT will become part of the Züriland advertisement combination, which means that it will lose its autonomy.
Increased reachHowever, the weekly NBT large circulation (33,000 copies) hardly makes sense any more and will probably be discontinued at the end of the year. According to Herkenrath, however, the ZU will expand the existing large circulation somewhat and also cover communities that were previously served exclusively by the NBT.
However, the cooperation not only enables synergies and cost reductions, it also gives the new headline paper a greater reach - for example in the town of Bülach: both NBT and ZU each had around 2500 subscribers there due to their different political orientations - double subscriptions are rare. Now they can offer twice the distribution density there, an undeniable advantage in view of Tamedia's regional strategy.
But that is only one side of the coin. From ZU's point of view, the NBT takeover prevented an equally conceivable rapprochement between Landbote and NBT - and thus an intrusion by Landbote into ZU's territory.
Markus Knöpfli
A partner in the Limmat Valley is missing To cover the whole area
To cover the area around the city of Zurich, the Züriland-Kombi needs a fourth partner in the Limmat Valley. The Limmattaler Tagblatt (LT), which belongs to the Mittelland Zeitung (MZ) and with which a loose editorial cooperation already exists, would be an obvious choice. But Beat Lauber, who is responsible for regional newspapers at the NZZ Group, waves it off: "At the moment, no talks are being held with the aim of linking the LT to the Züriland-Kleeblatt. "But if this wish were to arise at LT, we would not turn our backs on it," he adds. However, there is no reason to do so as long as the Tages-Anzeiger in the Limmat Valley refrains from a regional split and the MZ continues to do its job as well as before. (mk)
