The threat of overkill in Olten
Espace Media Groupe pits free papers against Mittelland Zeitung
With the free distribution of the Solothurner Tagblatt (ST), exaggerated discounts and bait offers, Espace Media Groupe (EM) has been pursuing a competition-distorting predatory strategy in the Solothurn area for over a year. These accusations were made by the long-established Solothurner Zeitung (SZ). They were the basis of a complaint against EM to the Competition Commission (Weko). Last week, however, the ComCo discontinued its preliminary investigations against EM. It saw no evidence of unlawful conduct under antitrust law in the market presence of the Berner Zeitung and its Solothurner split.
But EM didn't even want to wait for the Weko decision. It was so sure of its case that it struck the next blow against SZ and its partners in the Mittelland-Zeitung (MLZ) association two weeks ago, but this time at the free newspaper level.
EM has owned Solothurner Woche (SoWo, circulation: 74467 copies) for several years now. Its circulation area is congruent with that of two official advertisers of the SZ publisher Vogt-Schild/Habegger (VS/H). A year ago, the SoWo merged with the Anzeiger für Gäu und Thal (AGT, 20848 copies) to form the Jurasüdfuss-Kombi (JSFK).
Will the newspaper war be
Olten's banks of the Aare decided?
The disadvantage of the Kombi, however, is that it only just reaches the gates of Olten, but does not cover the city itself. For this reason, the JSFK decided that the independent AGT should extend its coverage area by
January 1, 2003 to Olten. In addition, the Allgemeine Anzeiger for the Zofingen district ("Arbiger") was acquired as a combined plus variant. The JSFK will now reach 108,000 households. In the Plus version, it will even reach 130000 copies. With this geographical expansion, the JSFK-Plus now covers an area from Grenchen to Zofingen at a price per millimeter of CHF 1.80, which largely corresponds to the scattering area of SZ and its MLZ partners Oltner and Zofinger Tagblatt.
In the region, the JSFK is therefore seen as a further challenge to MLZ. "It's not that at all," says SoWo Managing Director Paul Galli. The Kombi was practically imposed by the freeway link between Solothurn and Biel and was built in Gäu-Park at the request of national customers. "This has nothing to do with the European Championships," says Galli, who is, however, a member of the company management.
The AGT advance to Olten has also stirred up a lot of dust in the city of Aare. Four papers are already making life difficult for themselves there. Firstly, there is the daily newspaper Oltner Tagblatt (Dietschi AG), which is the official publication organ together with the free weekly Stadtanzeiger Olten (100 percent Publicitas). The town is also covered by the Niederämter Anzeiger from Schönenwerd and, for the past five years, by the Neue Oltner Zeitung from the Zehnder publishing house in Wil (SG). Hannes Röthlisberger, co-owner of the advertising agency Regio Annoncen in Langenthal, shakes his head: "I don't know what the AGT was thinking, there's no room for four advertisers in Olten," he says. Nevertheless, he gives the JSFK a chance: "It's not a bad combination, the SoWo is rooted and popular."
Vogt-Schild/Habegger wants to react quickly "if necessary"
In the course of the AGT advance to Olten, the scoreboard maps in this region will also be redistributed elsewhere. The previous Trio 32 combination and the Olten ring will be dissolved as they no longer make sense. The Quinto 32 will become the Quattro 32 without the AGT, and the South-West Ring (AGT and Arbiger) will now be called the Oltner Kombi. Last week, AGT also received its first tit-for-tat: Stadtanzeiger Olten announced that it would be expanding its distribution area into AGT's home territory to Oensingen as of January 1.
But how does VS/H, which feels directly attacked, react? "We are working on an answer," says its director Rudolf Rentsch, referring to his good contacts with various advertisers who have now been scared off by AGT - in particular the Stadtanzeiger Olten. Urs Lüthi, responsible for the advertisers at VS/H, is more relaxed. The previous JSFK had already had no impact, so he does not fear any consequences for the SZ or MLZ as a result of the Plus variant. "But we will keep an eye on it. And we have something in the drawer that will be implemented quickly if necessary," he says.
