Hansi Voigt leaves Watson

According to Voigt, he has been released from his duties with immediate effect. That was the right thing to do, he said, so that the new boss, Michael Wanner, could act. Voigt told the news agency sda that although he was not voluntarily stepping down as head of Watson, he was parting on good terms with publisher Peter Wanner. "We could not agree on a common path for the next phase. Among other things, we wanted to separate the editor-in-chief and the management," AZ Medien said when asked. Hansi Voigt had not wanted this. As a result, it was logical to part ways with Voigt.

Hansi Voigt, "father" of Watson - mid-March still "Head of the week" in advertising week (Photo: uma/advertising week)

Hansi Voigt founded and launched Watson together with AZ Medien. However, the portal with 1.3 million unique clients (UC) per month is still behind the original expectations in terms of revenue development, as AZ Medien wrote in its statement on Tuesday.

Wanner wants to invest further

Because he is convinced of Watson's long-term success, he will continue to invest in the expansion of the portal, AZ publisher Peter Wanner is quoted as saying in the statement. Watson is backed by the Zurich-based media start-up Fixxpunkt, which was founded by Voigt in April 2013. AZ Medien and BT Holding - Wanner's investment company - have held a majority stake in Fixxpunkt since November 2013. Voigt sold his shares in connection with his departure to Peter Wanner. Voigt did not want to comment on the amount and scope of the compensation for his shareholding when asked. According to AZ Medien, employees currently hold 15 percent of the shares in Fixxpunkt AG.

No further cost-cutting exercises planned

If two people want to go through a door at the same time and can't agree, everything is blocked in front of and behind it. That's no use," Voigt commented on his situation in his farewell article on Watson on Tuesday. No further cost-cutting exercises or changes are planned at Watson. The recent development in both traffic and revenue is too successful for that, he said. Since revenues grew less than expected, Voigt had to cut the budget last fall at the insistence of publisher Wanner and lay off three people. This measure saved 300'000 to 400'000 francs. Voigt himself waived part of his salary.

Publisher's son becomes new managing director

The news portal was launched on January 22, 2014 with 65 employees. Visually, it stands out strongly from the competition. With a mix of information and pastime, as well as multimedia narrative forms, Watson wants to establish itself above all with a young, mobile readership. The new managing director will be Michael Wanner, son of publisher Peter Wanner. Michael Wanner also serves as delegate of Watson's board of directors. Wanner is an HSG graduate. He spent four years at Hamburg-based publisher Gruner+Jahr, most recently as assistant to the CEO. (SDA)

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