Saturday only
Tribune Mont-Blanc: New Edipresse Newspaper for the Border Region
Tribune Mont-Blanc: New Edipresse newspaper for the border regionBy Christophe Büchi The French-speaking Swiss media group Edipresse is launching a newspaper for the French border region around Geneva. Tribune Mont-Blanc is the name of the baby and is due to launch in the fall with 25 employees and a 100% French structure.
The Edipresse Group, which has long flirted with the French market, is venturing into "douce France" for the first time with a newspaper. The Saturday newspaper Tribune Mont-Blanc is expected to be launched in September, covering a region that includes Haute Savoie, Evian, Chamonix and Annecy.
In recent years, the Edipresse daily newspaper Tribune de Genève has already started to devote a special section to the French border region. However, the Tribune is primarily aimed at cross-border commuters and other people with close ties to Geneva. "The new newspaper, on the other hand, penetrates deeper into the French hinterland," says Edipresse publishing director Théo Bouchat to WerbeWoche.
Antoine Exchaquet, former editor-in-chief of Le Matin, is the "éditeur délégué" of Edipresse on site. Otherwise, however, it will be a thoroughly French product. The editorial team, which consists of around a dozen full-time employees, is based in Archamps, France. It is headed by José Carron, a journalist who previously ran the "France voisine" section of the Tribune de Genève. Another dozen employees will be in charge of advertising acquisition. The Tribune Mont-Blanc wants to remain faithful to the French system of self-regulation.
A regional concept, but not taken to excess
As Exchaquet goes on to explain, the new newspaper will have four twelve-page sections - a section on the daily paper, a regional section, a sports section and a general information section.
One can conclude from this: Although the newspaper will cultivate the "micro-information" about regional events - celebrated to excess by the French regional newspapers - it will not neglect the national information (criminally neglected by the French regional newspapers).
Théo Bouchat says of the journalistic concept: "We want people to be served objective information and not just the deeds of local politicians." In contrast to the large local regional newspaper Dauphiné libéré (Hersant Group), the Edipresse-Tribune does without regional split editions.
Despite France: still a bit "Swiss made"
The newspaper is printed in four colors from A to Z, both in the editorial and advertising sections. To a Swiss eye, the zero issue of the newspaper, which is available to WerbeWoche, looks a little "nervous" (although this is not unusual for readers of the Tribune de Genève).
But by French standards, it is a beautifully and cleanly designed product that is a good testimony to the Swiss newspaper industry. The newspaper is produced at the Edipresse printing center in Vernier - so it is still a bit "Swiss made".
The new Tribune also benefits from the backing of its Swiss parent in another respect: a slightly "Frenchized" version of the TV guide, the program guide of Tribune de Genève and 24 Heures, is included with it. The aim is to offer something equivalent to the Saturday edition of the Dauphiné libéré.
A big step towards the western offensive
The Tribune Mont-Blanc is to be launched with a modest circulation of around 20,000 copies. Nevertheless, this launch is a big step for Edipresse. Although the market leader in French-speaking Switzerland has already made its first forays into the slippery French media scene with the creation of a men's magazine, it has not yet entered the highly competitive newspaper market.
Is the Tribune Mont-Blanc, if it is successful, just the beginning of a major western offensive? Antoine Exchaquet piles deep: "Nous devons d'abord faire nos gammes" - a pretty word that reads like this in German: "We must first learn our abc." In other words: let's start first and then we'll see.
Will the project fail due to the payment morale of the French?
Théo Bouchat does not strike the pose of the conquistador either, but points out the potential risks of the fall offensive. One major issue that concerns Edipresse is the payment behavior of French advertising customers.
It can be assumed that the Tribune Mont-Blanc's advertisers are acting as hard sellers in the French style. However, it remains to be seen whether the butcher from Annemasse will pay the bill as dutifully as the average Swiss. In any case, barter deals are no way to pay printing bills and wages.
The Edipresse Group, which has long flirted with the French market, is venturing into "douce France" for the first time with a newspaper. The Saturday newspaper Tribune Mont-Blanc is expected to be launched in September, covering a region that includes Haute Savoie, Evian, Chamonix and Annecy.
In recent years, the Edipresse daily newspaper Tribune de Genève has already started to devote a special section to the French border region. However, the Tribune is primarily aimed at cross-border commuters and other people with close ties to Geneva. "The new newspaper, on the other hand, penetrates deeper into the French hinterland," says Edipresse publishing director Théo Bouchat to WerbeWoche.
Antoine Exchaquet, former editor-in-chief of Le Matin, is the "éditeur délégué" of Edipresse on site. Otherwise, however, it will be a thoroughly French product. The editorial team, which consists of around a dozen full-time employees, is based in Archamps, France. It is headed by José Carron, a journalist who previously ran the "France voisine" section of the Tribune de Genève. Another dozen employees will be in charge of advertising acquisition. The Tribune Mont-Blanc wants to remain faithful to the French system of self-regulation.
A regional concept, but not taken to excess
As Exchaquet goes on to explain, the new newspaper will have four twelve-page sections - a section on the daily paper, a regional section, a sports section and a general information section.
One can conclude from this: Although the newspaper will cultivate the "micro-information" about regional events - celebrated to excess by the French regional newspapers - it will not neglect the national information (criminally neglected by the French regional newspapers).
Théo Bouchat says of the journalistic concept: "We want people to be served objective information and not just the deeds of local politicians." In contrast to the large local regional newspaper Dauphiné libéré (Hersant Group), the Edipresse-Tribune does without regional split editions.
Despite France: still a bit "Swiss made"
The newspaper is printed in four colors from A to Z, both in the editorial and advertising sections. To a Swiss eye, the zero issue of the newspaper, which is available to WerbeWoche, looks a little "nervous" (although this is not unusual for readers of the Tribune de Genève).
But by French standards, it is a beautifully and cleanly designed product that is a good testimony to the Swiss newspaper industry. The newspaper is produced at the Edipresse printing center in Vernier - so it is still a bit "Swiss made".
The new Tribune also benefits from the backing of its Swiss parent in another respect: a slightly "Frenchized" version of the TV guide, the program guide of Tribune de Genève and 24 Heures, is included with it. The aim is to offer something equivalent to the Saturday edition of the Dauphiné libéré.
A big step towards the western offensive
The Tribune Mont-Blanc is to be launched with a modest circulation of around 20,000 copies. Nevertheless, this launch is a big step for Edipresse. Although the market leader in French-speaking Switzerland has already made its first forays into the slippery French media scene with the creation of a men's magazine, it has not yet entered the highly competitive newspaper market.
Is the Tribune Mont-Blanc, if it is successful, just the beginning of a major western offensive? Antoine Exchaquet piles deep: "Nous devons d'abord faire nos gammes" - a pretty word that reads like this in German: "We must first learn our abc." In other words: let's start first and then we'll see.
Will the project fail due to the payment morale of the French?
Théo Bouchat does not strike the pose of the conquistador either, but points out the potential risks of the fall offensive. One major issue that concerns Edipresse is the payment behavior of French advertising customers.
It can be assumed that the Tribune Mont-Blanc's advertisers are acting as hard sellers in the French style. However, it remains to be seen whether the butcher from Annemasse will pay the bill as dutifully as the average Swiss. In any case, barter deals are no way to pay printing bills and wages.
