Competition on the boulevard?
Newspapers Shareholders of Jean Frey Verlag (JF) are thinking out loud about an alternative to the unloved Blick.
Newspapers Shareholders of Jean Frey Verlag (JF) are thinking aloud about an alternative to the unpopular Blick. rumors of an imminent conservative challenge to the mass-circulation newspaper monopolist Ringier are intensifying. At the request of Werbewoche, SVP National Councillor and Jean Frey shareholder Hans Kaufmann confirmed that "corresponding plans exist". However, these are "still in their infancy" and, in view of an investment volume in the three-digit million range, can probably only be financed with foreign help, which would most likely come from Springer Verlag, whose spokeswoman Edda Fels does not want to comment on "such market speculation". JF CEO Filippo Leutenegger echoes similar sentiments. And main shareholder Tito Tettamanti could not be reached for comment.
Kaufmann's council colleague Peter Weigelt (FDP), however, believes that this "commercially highly interesting project in the longer term" should be tackled before someone else does it. For political reasons, however, Weigelt, who is also involved in the Weltwoche publishing house, would personally "rather hold back". Weigelt considers Michael Ringier's warning that any competitors would "encounter rocky reader and advertiser terrain" (WW 17/04) with hard-hitting, classic tabloids in Switzerland to be "a purely protective assertion" that would be refuted in no time.
Ex-20-Minuten man Markus Eisenhut is being touted in industry circles as a possible editor-in-chief of such a newspaper, which according to Kaufmann is also positioned below the Blick level in terms of price. He signaled his interest when asked, but does not want to know anything about a concrete project.
Weltwoche columnist Kurt W. Zimmermann is more energetic in his dismissal: He is not available either conceptually or operationally. Former Blick editor-in-chief Peter Uebersax, on the other hand, would support "the courageous creators of a new tabloid title", but only in an advisory capacity because he is 79 years old.
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Kaufmann's council colleague Peter Weigelt (FDP), however, believes that this "commercially highly interesting project in the longer term" should be tackled before someone else does it. For political reasons, however, Weigelt, who is also involved in the Weltwoche publishing house, would personally "rather hold back". Weigelt considers Michael Ringier's warning that any competitors would "encounter rocky reader and advertiser terrain" (WW 17/04) with hard-hitting, classic tabloids in Switzerland to be "a purely protective assertion" that would be refuted in no time.
Ex-20-Minuten man Markus Eisenhut is being touted in industry circles as a possible editor-in-chief of such a newspaper, which according to Kaufmann is also positioned below the Blick level in terms of price. He signaled his interest when asked, but does not want to know anything about a concrete project.
Weltwoche columnist Kurt W. Zimmermann is more energetic in his dismissal: He is not available either conceptually or operationally. Former Blick editor-in-chief Peter Uebersax, on the other hand, would support "the courageous creators of a new tabloid title", but only in an advisory capacity because he is 79 years old.
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