Three variants in the "Espace Nord"
Berner Tagblatt Medien considers reactions to the basket from Solothurn
Berner Tagblatt Medien considers reactions to the basket from SolothurnBerner Zeitung had come up with four possible strategies to grow in the Solothurn/ Oberaargau region ("Espace Nord"). The "cooperation with the Solothurner Zeitung" option has now been dropped from the agenda due to the Mitteland Zeitung. A Solothurn split edition, on the other hand, is more tangible than ever before.
"Of course, we would have liked to cooperate with the Solothurners, and possibly also with the Olteners and Zofingers, but now the matter has been settled for five years," says Albert P. Stäheli, Chairman of the Berner Tagblatt Medien Group Management (BTM), soberly. However, as the Berner Zeitung does not have to fear any loss of market share as a result of the new project, Stäheli is relaxed despite the basket from Solothurn.
For him, it is clear that Solothurn belongs to the "Espace Mittelland" in terms of commuter flows, but also in terms of mentality, and does not tend towards Aargau. The reactions from Solothurn and Oberaargau also show him this: since the announcement of the Mittelland Zeitung project (WW 11/01), several opinion leaders have contacted him. "They asked: Now you have to do something," says Stäheli.
Even though Stäheli emphasizes that BTM has already done "its homework" (strategic planning) in advance, he is cautious: "It has to work out for us too." After all, BTM has long been on the ground with the free newspaper Solothurner Woche and knows the regional advertising market very well.
In Aarau, Olten, Zofingen and Solothurn, it is assumed that BTM will react, as it has declared its intention to grow in this area. But how? Stäheli is tight-lipped. He talks about four strategy options for BZ in "Espace Nord", as the area around Olten is known in BTM jargon. One is called cooperation and is now obsolete. And the other three would be "feasible at any time".
Is the Solothurn BZ split edition coming?
In response to an inquiry, he confirms that another variant envisages the launch of a BZ split edition for Solothurn. So far, this has not been implemented in order not to scare off the Solothurner Zeitung (SZ). However, even without knowing the two other variants, this one is probably the most likely.
One thing is certain: The BZ strategy options do not explicitly include what Stäheli told the BZ in response: the current editorial expansion of existing split editions, including those in the north (Langenthal). "We're working on that anyway," says Stäheli.
Why did SZ turn down BZ? SZ publishing director Christian Müller: "It wouldn't have paid off for us." If the SZ circulation was added to that of the BZ, the price would have to be increased by half in percentage terms. Even if the SZ received this share, "we would have less than today", says Müller. In Solothurn, he also disliked the way in which BTM was taking on its partners in the Oberland region, for example. In addition, BTM had clearly told SZ that it would not become independent and would not enter into a reversible contract.
Bund: Open for everything
"Of course, we would have liked to cooperate with the Solothurners, and possibly also with the Olteners and Zofingers, but now the matter has been settled for five years," says Albert P. Stäheli, Chairman of the Berner Tagblatt Medien Group Management (BTM), soberly. However, as the Berner Zeitung does not have to fear any loss of market share as a result of the new project, Stäheli is relaxed despite the basket from Solothurn.
For him, it is clear that Solothurn belongs to the "Espace Mittelland" in terms of commuter flows, but also in terms of mentality, and does not tend towards Aargau. The reactions from Solothurn and Oberaargau also show him this: since the announcement of the Mittelland Zeitung project (WW 11/01), several opinion leaders have contacted him. "They asked: Now you have to do something," says Stäheli.
Even though Stäheli emphasizes that BTM has already done "its homework" (strategic planning) in advance, he is cautious: "It has to work out for us too." After all, BTM has long been on the ground with the free newspaper Solothurner Woche and knows the regional advertising market very well.
In Aarau, Olten, Zofingen and Solothurn, it is assumed that BTM will react, as it has declared its intention to grow in this area. But how? Stäheli is tight-lipped. He talks about four strategy options for BZ in "Espace Nord", as the area around Olten is known in BTM jargon. One is called cooperation and is now obsolete. And the other three would be "feasible at any time".
Is the Solothurn BZ split edition coming?
In response to an inquiry, he confirms that another variant envisages the launch of a BZ split edition for Solothurn. So far, this has not been implemented in order not to scare off the Solothurner Zeitung (SZ). However, even without knowing the two other variants, this one is probably the most likely.
One thing is certain: The BZ strategy options do not explicitly include what Stäheli told the BZ in response: the current editorial expansion of existing split editions, including those in the north (Langenthal). "We're working on that anyway," says Stäheli.
Why did SZ turn down BZ? SZ publishing director Christian Müller: "It wouldn't have paid off for us." If the SZ circulation was added to that of the BZ, the price would have to be increased by half in percentage terms. Even if the SZ received this share, "we would have less than today", says Müller. In Solothurn, he also disliked the way in which BTM was taking on its partners in the Oberland region, for example. In addition, BTM had clearly told SZ that it would not become independent and would not enter into a reversible contract.
Bund: Open for everything
No comment was available from the NZZ, which had also asked for the hand of the Solothurner Zeitung (SZ). However, J. Pepe Wiss (photo), publishing director of the Bund, which belongs to the NZZ Group, said that the cooperation between the Neue Mittelland Zeitung and the Aargauer Zeitung had been foreseeable. "In our opinion, the new circumstances do not rule out future cooperation or a merger or collaboration in any form between Mittelland Zeitung or its individual partners and the Bund," added Wiss. The Federation is open to a continuation of the editorial cooperation with the SZ head papers Langenthaler Tagblatt and Berner Rundschau. SZ publishing director Müller does not rule this out either.
