The sports magazine is transferred in its entirety to Ringier

The Zurich-based media company Ringier is acquiring the monthly specialist magazine Sportmagazin in its entirety and is taking over the shares of the AZ Medien Group (AZM) in return. The takeover will not result in any editorial changes. Patrick Mäder will continue to manage the magazine as editor-in-chief. The takeover is taking place because Ringier believes that such a magazine has a place in the Swiss market, the Ringier media office told Werbewoche. This is particularly the case in view of the 2006 Football World Cup in Germany and the 2008 European Football Championships in Switzerland and Austria. The sports magazine was previously printed by AZ Medien. From the next issue onwards, Ringier Print in Zofingen will take over the printing. The sports magazine was launched in 2000 and, according to Ringier, reaches 431,000 readers per month. In January 2004, the AZ Medien Group entered into a joint venture with Ringier with an unknown shareholding and has since published the sports magazine together with Ringier. As Ringier informed Werbewoche, this was a collaboration between equal partners. In publishing terms, the magazine had already been placed under the Blick Group. In May 2004, it was redesigned and relaunched with a new focus on football alongside ice hockey and motor sport. Product management remained with AZM.