Local.ch: Ringier also shows interest

Marc Walder from Ringier criticized Google's market power - never before has one company had such dominance in an industry. Christoph Tonini of Tamedia put the dependence on Google into perspective: only about 5 percent of Tagesanzeiger.ch's traffic comes from Google. Axel Wüstmann of AZ Medien also said that Google was not a major factor for the Watson news portal, that Twitter and Facebook were much more important: Without them, Watson would be 30 percent smaller. Decisive for the future of Watson is the development perspective - the project is "risky, but the right one": "It will get the time it needs." For AZ Medien, Watson is a strategically important step, he said. NZZ CEO Veit Dengler assessed the moderator's criticism of Watson ("only burns money after all") as "indecent": "The publishers all have to experiment, you can't judge a portal after a few months." He is looking forward to the NZZ expansion into Austria, every market has its own peculiarities, and further market expansions are conceivable: "We want to open up new markets, new customer groups in journalism."

Ringier wants to grow with digital

Walder wants to further expand the digital business: The market share of digital at Ringier is 26 percent, he said, while at other Swiss publishers it is even lower. "In Switzerland, this business was discovered relatively late." Jobs.ch has an Ebitda margin of over 50 percent, he said. Tamedia and Ringier paid 390 million for Jobs.ch. Tonini: "Whether that was too much or not will only become clear later."

Tamedia wants to position Local.ch and Search.ch together against Google

Tonini confirmed Tamedia's interest in Publigroupe: "The asset we are interested in is Local.ch." There would be synergies between Search.ch and Local.ch. This could be "a real alternative to Google." Walder called Tamedia's approach "clever," and he added: "Ringier must now also get involved in this discussion." Otherwise, the management would have to be blamed. Is there a bidding battle, asked moderator Beat Balzli (Axel Springer). "In the end, there is always a bidding battle," Walder replied. Would it be conceivable for Ringier to make a joint push with Tamedia, as it did with jobs.ch? "The cooperation with Christoph Tonini and Tamedia is excellent," said Walder. Tonini replied that he could confirm that, "but another partner is envisaged here."

According to a statement, the Swiss Media Forum was opened by Newsweek Editor-in-Chief Jim Impoco. He explained why Newsweek decided to reintroduce the print edition, which had been discontinued a year ago. Spiegel Editor-in-Chief Wolfgang Büchner spoke about the successful cooperation between Spiegel and Spiegel Online; he himself is Editor-in-Chief across both channels. He announced that Spiegel Online would remain free - he was against a paywall. However, there will be a pay section: "We will pursue a freemium model," he said.

Federal Councillor Leuthard praises newspapers in French-speaking Switzerland

At the Swiss Media Forum in Lucerne, Federal Councilor Doris Leuthard held up a mirror to the media professionals present. The industry lacks ideas, she said. She was particularly harsh in her criticism of Swiss-German newspapers. "The quality of newspapers is currently higher in French-speaking Switzerland," the media minister said in an interview in Saturday's Nordwestschweiz. She added that the French-language papers not only often give completely different weighting, but also delve into topics more frequently and offer "more comprehensively embedded background information." Leuthard would also like to see this from the regional newspapers. These "often don't classify or comment," said the Federal Councilor. Even if there has been a concentration in the course of structural change, consumers in this country still have a great variety to choose from. Nevertheless, more ideas are needed from media entrepreneurs: "new business models, new apps, new channels to bring information to the people." Because while the older generation is well covered with daily newspapers and the radio program "Echo der Zeit," the young inform themselves quite differently. "That's where the media have to react."

Voting movies on Youtube

An expansion abroad is conceivable. After all, the Swiss media are generally regarded as balanced and neutral. The federal government must also ask itself how it can reach young people with in-depth information. This generation is neither apolitical nor disinterested, but does not respond to official announcement information, Leuthard said. "That's why we are considering making Youtube films on the votes." (SDA/OTS)

Photos: Swissmediaforum.ch