No business with death
Regional press On the left bank of Lake Zurich, Tamedia has been gaining experience with the first regional edition of the Tages-Anzeiger - for a year now.
months together with the regional edition for 35 francs
test?" a voice whispers through the receiver. No? But maybe
to an unemployed colleague who is sure to find the job advertiser.
could use, make a gift? Currently running on the left
the wires are hot on the shores of Lake Zurich, because the Tages-Anzeiger makes
Telemarketing. A little more than a year after the launch of the
first regional edition for the district of Horgen in Wädenswil sells the
Insert in tabloid format hardly any advertisements and acceptance by the
authorities and the general public.
Since the first issue of the Tagi regional edition at the end of February 2005, the
the paper could just publish two private obituaries. The
"Business with death" is significant because it is seen as a type of
simple barometer for the appreciation of the ancestral population
works in relation to the newspaper. The same applies to club advertisements.
Especially in Wädenswil, the home of the left bank editorial office of the
Tages-Anzeiger, there is an almost
frightening density of associations. Nevertheless, there is a lack of their
Insertion readiness. Only recently, the advertising management
clubs and offering them a 15 percent special discount for the
Publication of their occasions offered. "In the local market decides who
has the club and death notices," says Peter Curiger, branch manager
of Publicitas in Horgen. He sells the ancestral Zürichsee-Zeitung
(ZSZ), which is under management contract with Publicitas, yet
occasionally also advertisements for the Tagi regional edition.
To even get to advertisements from local tradesmen and
organizers, the Tagi regional edition offers potential
advertisers high introductory discounts of 30 percent. Major advertisers
book directly in the Tages-Anzeiger and are not involved in the regional edition.
but local traders can hardly match this offer.
resist. However, it is known among ad salespeople that high discounts
can mean the death of a newspaper in the medium term.
If you flip through the tabloid, every now and then unpaid
filler and self-advertisements. Individual district municipalities have also
extended the delivery of its official advertisements for another year.
However, others, such as Kilchberg, Thalwil and Richterswil, give the sheet
the "official" ones don't or don't anymore. "It is unattractive when official
Advertisements bound by deadlines, time-delayed in the newspapers
appear," says Andreas Meienberg, municipal clerk of Richterswil.
At the end of 2005, the municipality definitely opted for the Zürichsee-Zeitung as its
decided on as the sole publication medium, not least because in the
Tagi regional paper the municipal council reports occasionally as a
fragmented fillers were used, says Meienberg.
Commercial success for the regional edition of the Tages-Anzeiger
is therefore a long time coming. According to branch manager Curiger, the
In addition, the volume of advertising at the Zürichsee-Zeitung remained the same as in the period before
the new competition. What is the situation in the reader market?
At least Tamedia is gaining evaluable experience on the left bank of the lake in the
local newspaper business. From the fall, these are then to be published in four further
Regional editorial offices on the right bank of the lake, in the Zurich Unterland and
Oberland and in the city of Zurich. Due to the
current surveys of the MACH Basic 2006-1 of the Wemf reaches the
Tages-Anzeiger in the district of Horgen 35,000 readers, the
Zürichsee-Zeitung, on the other hand, 30 000.
The data collected by VSW and Wemf in the Media Performance
However, circulation data from the Swiss press show that the ZSZ in
has stronger budget coverage than most district municipalities.
In the municipalities of Adliswil and Langnau im Sihltal, the values for the
Tages-Anzeiger, on the other hand, is higher, because the ZSZ, as a Sihltaler, is only
appears three times a week. Apart from the Sihl Valley, the
Tages-Anzeiger 2005 in ten district municipalities a coverage of
26.8 percent, Die Zürichsee-Zeitung 39.8 percent. According to the
The paper has increased its subscriptions, according to those responsible for the Zürichsee-Zeitung.
This, however, is also confirmed by the exponents of the Tages-Anzeiger.
For acceptance by the audience, however, the journalistic
Content critical. "We try not to do court reporting.
since March," says Patrick Gut, the new editorial director of the
Tagi local editorial office. The contacts to the public, to associations and
Authorities would become increasingly better. Individual communities disadvantaged
the Tages-Anzeiger with information, however. "Since you are the ZSZ
got better," that's what he hears again and again, says Gut. "We
have a lot in common, bad text submissions, the pressure of the
communities and similar workflows," says ZSZ editorial director
Charlotte Walder. However, 85 percent of journalistic primeurs read
one still in the ZSZ, she says confidently.
Georges Müller, ex-editor-in-chief of a local newspaper offensive at the end of the
90s in the district of Horgen, says in comparison: "The Tagi people make
an outstanding job, ZSZ had to wake up to that as well."
René Worni
