Last but not least: Free sheets cause a stir
Anyone who still doesn't believe that the press landscape in Switzerland has undergone lasting change in recent years must be living like a hermit. Since 20 Minuten has become the newspaper with the highest circulation in Switzerland and has been able to continuously increase its profits and readership figures, nobody can avoid the topic any longer.
Anyone who still doesn't believe that the Swiss press landscape has undergone lasting change in recent years must be living like a hermit. Since 20 Minuten has become the newspaper with the highest circulation in Switzerland and has been able to continuously increase its profits and readership figures, no one can avoid the topic any longer. In the run-up to the launch of the new free newspaper .ch, the upheaval can be clearly observed: As Tamedia, Espace Media and Basler Zeitung announced on Friday in front of a large media crowd, the three major publishing houses now suddenly also want to launch a new free quality paper called News together at lightning speed this year. Despite all the obviousness, however, those responsible deny any connection to .ch. In addition, there are constant reports in all the media about the preparations for the new title around initiator Sacha Wigdorovits. Most recently, Sonntagsblick reported under the title ".chaos" that the distribution of the newspaper in stands close to properties - between 25,000 and 35,000, depending on the source - is under considerable threat and is meeting with great resistance from property managers. Based on a case in Basel, where the real estate management of the city of Basel expressly spoke out against the installation of stands without a specific request, the distribution concept was practically doomed to failure. "Quote me on this: the head of sales has so much to do that he can't give any interviews at the moment," asks logistics manager Peter Kümmerli, referring to board member Wigdorovits. And he says: "Don't believe everything you read in the newspaper! A lot of things in the article were inaccurate or exaggerated. In the specific case in Basel, however, the administration was actually not notified. The information was missing from our database."
Wigdorovits confirmed that, according to the article, over 150 property owners had contacted him to prohibit him from putting up stands. However, he went on to explain that this should be seen in relation to the 8,500 property management companies that have been approached and is therefore a very small number. No more could be elicited from the big man in the background. He referred to the press conference on the first edition scheduled for Tuesday. The question of whether he already regrets his sales strategy therefore remains unanswered for a while yet.
Wigdorovits confirmed that, according to the article, over 150 property owners had contacted him to prohibit him from putting up stands. However, he went on to explain that this should be seen in relation to the 8,500 property management companies that have been approached and is therefore a very small number. No more could be elicited from the big man in the background. He referred to the press conference on the first edition scheduled for Tuesday. The question of whether he already regrets his sales strategy therefore remains unanswered for a while yet.
