Media skirmish on the Rhine
NZZ and the Chur-based Gasser Group are locked in a battle over BuchsMedien
NZZ and Chur-based Gasser Group tussle over BuchsMedienBy Markus Knöpfli Over the past 18 months, share packages of BuchsMedien AG have been traded as turbulently as options. In the meantime, it has become clear: The NZZ has consolidated its position in the Buchs SG area, not least to put a stop to Hanspeter Lebrument's Südostschweiz. But Lebrument was also able to acquire a stake in BuchsMedien and thus build a bridgehead into the Rhine Valley.
At the latest since BuchsMedien, publisher of the Werdenberger & Obertoggenburger (WO, circulation 10300 copies), integrated its paper into Hanspeter Lebrument's newspaper group Südostschweiz, BuchsMedien shareholders divided into two camps. For political and profit reasons, opponents of Südostschweiz sold a 27.5 percent stake to NZZ at the end of 1998, whereupon the other camp offered its shares to Lebrument, a board delegate of the Chur-based Gasser Group - for obvious reasons: The WO already cooperates with Lebrument's Südostschweiz via a jacket agreement; moreover, Gasser is the strongest publisher in the region.
Is a St. Gallen media stew emerging in the Rhine Valley?
Lebrument took the plunge and bought a total of 18 percent of the shares. But NZZ also sought additional shares and came to 58 percent. Since April 29, the board of directors of BuchsMedien has therefore consisted of board president Jakob Rhyner (Buchs), Willy Schib (NZZ), hotelier Roland Stump (all three up to now), as well as Kurt Ringer and Jean-Philippe Rickenbach (both NZZ), Hanspeter Lebrument and St. Gallen lawyer Adrian Rüesch.
The fact that the NZZ now holds a majority stake in BuchsMedien could have far-reaching consequences for the region: There is a threat of a media stew like in St. Gallen, possibly even under St. Gallen's wing. Because through BuchsMedien, the NZZ not only controls WO, but also holds 30 percent of Tele Rheintal and nine percent of Radio Ri. The NZZ has a further 35 percent stake in Radio Ri through the St. Galler Tagblatt.
Moreover, Radio Ri and Radio Aktuell, which belongs to the NZZ Group, have long been linked via an advertising pool and want to cooperate even more closely in marketing and programming. More intensive forms of cooperation are also currently being discussed between Tele Ostschweiz (also part of the NZZ Group) and Tele Rheintal.
NZZ wants to hold on to the jacket agreement with Südostschweiz
Schib, Rhyner and Lebrument do not dispute that the development could go in the direction of "media stew. They all also emphasize that they understand and appreciate each other well. However, Schib puts the above scenario into perspective: The NZZ wants to keep the contract with Südostschweiz, which has been extended until the end of 2006, in any case; that is the best thing for the WO anyway.
And in the radio and TV sector, there will be major cooperations in eastern Switzerland in the next few years one way or another for economic reasons. Rhyner, who sees the new situation as "positive," only wants to prevent WO from degenerating into the head paper of one side or the other.
Lebrument comments soberly on the situation: "BuchsMedien is on the edge of our sphere of influence. The NZZ has put a shoe on our territory there, but we have put one on theirs. Should a dispute ever arise, we are in the weaker position there, but we still have Graubünden as a secure réduit."
At the latest since BuchsMedien, publisher of the Werdenberger & Obertoggenburger (WO, circulation 10300 copies), integrated its paper into Hanspeter Lebrument's newspaper group Südostschweiz, BuchsMedien shareholders divided into two camps. For political and profit reasons, opponents of Südostschweiz sold a 27.5 percent stake to NZZ at the end of 1998, whereupon the other camp offered its shares to Lebrument, a board delegate of the Chur-based Gasser Group - for obvious reasons: The WO already cooperates with Lebrument's Südostschweiz via a jacket agreement; moreover, Gasser is the strongest publisher in the region.
Is a St. Gallen media stew emerging in the Rhine Valley?
Lebrument took the plunge and bought a total of 18 percent of the shares. But NZZ also sought additional shares and came to 58 percent. Since April 29, the board of directors of BuchsMedien has therefore consisted of board president Jakob Rhyner (Buchs), Willy Schib (NZZ), hotelier Roland Stump (all three up to now), as well as Kurt Ringer and Jean-Philippe Rickenbach (both NZZ), Hanspeter Lebrument and St. Gallen lawyer Adrian Rüesch.
The fact that the NZZ now holds a majority stake in BuchsMedien could have far-reaching consequences for the region: There is a threat of a media stew like in St. Gallen, possibly even under St. Gallen's wing. Because through BuchsMedien, the NZZ not only controls WO, but also holds 30 percent of Tele Rheintal and nine percent of Radio Ri. The NZZ has a further 35 percent stake in Radio Ri through the St. Galler Tagblatt.
Moreover, Radio Ri and Radio Aktuell, which belongs to the NZZ Group, have long been linked via an advertising pool and want to cooperate even more closely in marketing and programming. More intensive forms of cooperation are also currently being discussed between Tele Ostschweiz (also part of the NZZ Group) and Tele Rheintal.
NZZ wants to hold on to the jacket agreement with Südostschweiz
Schib, Rhyner and Lebrument do not dispute that the development could go in the direction of "media stew. They all also emphasize that they understand and appreciate each other well. However, Schib puts the above scenario into perspective: The NZZ wants to keep the contract with Südostschweiz, which has been extended until the end of 2006, in any case; that is the best thing for the WO anyway.
And in the radio and TV sector, there will be major cooperations in eastern Switzerland in the next few years one way or another for economic reasons. Rhyner, who sees the new situation as "positive," only wants to prevent WO from degenerating into the head paper of one side or the other.
Lebrument comments soberly on the situation: "BuchsMedien is on the edge of our sphere of influence. The NZZ has put a shoe on our territory there, but we have put one on theirs. Should a dispute ever arise, we are in the weaker position there, but we still have Graubünden as a secure réduit."
