With Express on the boulevard

Tamedia's planned transformation of ZürichExpress into a commuter newspaper has progressed further than previously assumed, according to a three-page "argumentation" from the management bearing the initials of company spokesman Peter Hartmeier, which is available to WerbeWoche, in which the project, which is now called "Express", is described as necessary from an entrepreneurial and publishing perspective. The reason given is that the business model of ZürichExpress has not worked since 20 Minuten entered the market. Nevertheless, the "Express is not a cheap free newspaper, but is made according to the standards of a complete urban newspaper". And: "With the new product, we will finally shed the old image of the ZürichExpress, which is not true anyway." How the NZZ, which holds a 40 percent stake in the official gazette of the Limmat metropolis, feels about its tabloidization is, of course, not mentioned in the letter of justification.
However, when asked by WerbeWoche, project manager Marius Hagger, who is also responsible for the internal savings program "Focus", denied that the Tamedia commuter newspaper had already been approved. The responsible committees will only decide at the end of the year, he reassured. The paper was merely preliminary information for important Tamedia customers. According to information from WerbeWoche, however, the "Argumentarium" was already presented to the editorial team of ZürichExpress last week. It was explicitly stated that the launch - nota bene in tabloid format - should take place as soon as possible. (oc)