Under the watchful eyes of many, the free press has continued to expand its presence in the country since the middle of last year and, in some cases, has repositioned itself. “Heute” finally became “Blick am Abend,” “News” appeared in the “golden media triangle” and made inroads into the Mittelland, and “20 Minuten” continued its success story, one that still collectively brings the industry to its knees.
In this battle for survival and self-discovery—where the reader comes last and ad sales come first—the publication .ch, dubbed the «little NZZ of the free press,» seemed to have the worst odds. With hardly any ads and a distribution concept that was as bold and original as it was reckless—one that did little to inspire confidence among advertisers.
This stood in stark contrast to the assurances of its founder, Sacha Wigdorovits, that things weren’t half as bad as they seemed and would soon fall into place. The PR consultant and media executive is known for his tenacity and doesn’t give up until his opponents are dead in the water. And when photos of piles of newspaper stands appeared in the SonntagsBlick, he sued Ringier for defamation.
But it was all for naught; many of those half-height platforms have since been repurposed as music stands for guitarists in rehearsal rooms. As a commuter newspaper in direct competition with *20 Minuten*, the paper may still need time to find its footing. The rest remains to be seen. A rival publication has already lost out to *20 Minuten* once before…

Under the watchful eyes of many, the free press has continued to establish itself in the country since the middle of last year and, in some cases, has repositioned itself. Today finally became *Blick am Abend*, *News* appeared in the “golden media triangle” and made inroads into the Mittelland, and *20 Minuten* continued its success story, one that still collectively brings the industry to its knees.
In this struggle for survival and self-discovery—in which the reader takes a back seat to ad sales—the publication .ch, dubbed the «little NZZ of the free press,» seemed to have the worst odds; it had hardly any ads and a distribution concept that was as bold and original as it was reckless—one that inspired little confidence among advertisers. This stood in stark contrast to the assurances of its founder, Sacha Wigdorovits, that things weren’t half as bad as they seemed and would soon fall into place.
The PR consultant and media personality is known for his tenacity and won’t give up until his opponents are dead as a doornail. And when photos of piles of newspaper stands appeared in the SonntagsBlick, he sued Ringier for defamation. But it was all to no avail, and many of those half-height stands have since served as music stands for guitarists in rehearsal rooms.
The commuter newspaper may only be able to find its footing once it’s in direct competition with 20 Minuten. The rest remains to be seen. A rival publication has already lost out to 20 Minuten once before…