Sunday title: On the lookout for a bride in the regions
From March, Sunday will become a day of unrest: Sonntagszeitung, Sonntagspool and Schweiz am Sonntag are fighting for additional reach and need partners in the regions. Some of them are quite interested. By Markus Knöpfli
March marks the beginning of spring, and this year it is also making itself felt in the publishing industry. More precisely in the Sunday market: On March 3, the St. Galler Tagblatt (SGT) launches its Sunday edition Ostschweiz am Sonntag (OaS), which together with the NZZ am Sonntag and Zentralschweiz am Sonntag (ZaS) form the new Sunday pool; on the same day, the Basler Zeitung exchanges its previous Sunday edition for Tamedia's Sonntagszeitung (SoZ), and on March 24, Südostschweiz Medien and AZ Medien merge their Sunday editions to form Schweiz am Sonntag (CHaS).
This spring awakening will lead to a shake-up in the Sunday market in terms of reach and rankings, with corresponding implications for advertisers (see article on page 19). But that is only one aspect. A second: the three big players - SoZ, Sonntagspool and CHaS - are all declared to be open to further partners This with the aim of deepening their own reach in the core areas or expanding geographically. This has already triggered a new dynamic, for example in Buchs (SG) and in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley. However, the cooperation models look very different for the potential partners, which is why they are briefly broken down here.
Three models are available
- The CHaS offer consists of an advertising combo, which other publishers can join - provided they have a regional Sunday edition or decide to launch one. Then they also have the editorial mantle of CHaS, produced in Aarau, at their disposal, which they can take over in whole or in part. Südostschweiz am Sonntag is the first newspaper outside northwestern Switzerland to take advantage of this offer, which means that CHaS will no longer cover a contiguous area in the future. It is all the more interested in other partners.
- The Sunday pool unites three compact newspapers without regional splits. Other partners with their own Sunday editions can join the pool, but at least in the circulation areas of OaS and ZaS, another form of partnership is also possible, as the examples of Werdenberger & Obertoggenburger and Rheintaler respectively show (see Werbewoche 3/13): W&O and Rheintaler offer their subscribers the OaS with an attractive combined subscription - in the sense of reader loyalty. In turn, OaS can thus deepen its reach in the corresponding areas.
- The SoZ is taking a similar approach, as it is demonstrating in Basel. There are no plans for a regional split or editorial cooperation with BaZ on the Rhine knee, says publishing director Diego Quintarelli. "SoZ will remain a national newspaper. " BaZ also does not share in the advertising revenue, he said, but it can attach its job ad to SoZ in the Basel area. Quintarelli clearly denies rumors that the SoZ in Basel is being sold for only 18 francs. The fact is that Basler Zeitung Medien will buy the required 40,000 SoZ copies from Tamedia and can then offer them to existing subscribers at a freely chosen combination price. Currently, this amounts to 426 francs, the same as the current seven-day BaZ subscription and 37 francs more than the BaZ weekday subscription. The situation is different in Bern, where Bund subscribers pay only an additional 20 francs with SoZ.
The doors are open in Schaffhausen
The offerings of these major Sunday players have one thing in common: cooperation only makes sense if Sunday early delivery already exists or is being established. The examples of W&O and Rheintaler show: There are small publishers who are willing to invest in Sunday logistics. That's why Werbewoche asked 16 other local and regional newspapers how much interest there was in having their own Sunday edition or a Sunday partnership. The result:
- No response was available from 4 of the 16 titles requested: Liechtensteiner Volksblatt, Tessiner Zeitung, Willisauer Bote/Wiggertaler Bote.
- Two of the titles approached already have a Sunday edition: Vaduzer Medienhaus AG (Liechtensteiner Vaterland) has already been publishing the free Sunday newspaper Liewo for 20 years, which is also distributed to all households in the Werdenberg area with its own early delivery organization. He is certainly open to a Swiss partner, says publishing director Daniel Quaderer, provided that the front and cover sections can be split. But he does not see a great need for action "at the moment". Schaffhauser Nachrichten also distributes Sunday news - but exclusively online. According to publisher Norbert Neininger, the editorial team is "training" for a possible seven-day print expansion. However, the time is not yet ripe for this. However, he is examining both possibilities - a Sunday edition of his own and also a cooperation with a major player. "We are talking most intensively with OaS, because we already have a job combination with the St. Galler Tagblatt," he says.
The Valais messenger is ready
According to director Marcel Geissbühler, the publishing house is also considering both variants for the Bieler Tagblatt and Journal du Jura. In addition, a bilingual Sunday edition has already been discussed. "But there is no project ready to go, because no business model has convinced us yet," he says.
The publishers of Bote der Urschweiz, March Anzeiger, Höfner Volksblatt and Sarganserländer have also repeatedly discussed entering the Sunday market - if only because they are part of the Südostschweiz media network on weekdays. Urs Kälin, publishing director of Sarganserländer, fears, however, that hardly any additional advertising revenue could be generated. "The volume will merely be distributed during the week," he says. Hugo Triner, publisher of the Bote der Urschweiz, can imagine a Sunday edition "perhaps in a few years," but according to surveys, subscriber demand is currently too low. And publisher Philipp Theiler (March Anzeiger/Höfner Volksblatt) is skeptical about a reader loyalty campaign in cooperation with a major Sunday paper. "That brings us no advantage, only higher subscription costs," he says.
For example, Gilbert Bühler, director of the Freiburger Nachrichten, the publication of his own Sunday edition is not an issue either. And cooperation with a major newspaper? "Never say never," he says, but immediately points to the poorly developed early Sunday delivery in the Sense district.
Kurt Hasen, Managing Director of the Valais Messenger (WB), is also aware of this problem, but he is currently discussing a combined subscription with the SoZ from the second quarter of 2013 - for WB subscribers in the conurbations of Brig, Visp and Naters. "Because an expansion of Sunday distribution is out of the question," he clarifies. After all, the Walliser Bote has just under 6,000 subscribers in the three agglomerations, while the SoZ only sells about 1,250 copies in the Upper Valais. So there is potential for them. And what does the WB stand to gain? "We have no benefit, but we want to offer our readers an additional benefit - a cost advantage thanks to the Valais Messenger," says Hasen. Whereby the SoZ would have to grant the subscription discount. Unlike the BaZ, he is not prepared to spend any money. Only the SoZ will be advertised in the WB. "But we still have to wait for the draft contract and the compensation model of the SoZ," Hasen adds.
Even the Volksstimme is open-minded
That leaves those newspapers that only appear two or three times a week - such as the Volksstimme in Sissach, the Neue Fricktaler Zeitung or the Botschaft in Zurzach. All of them have never thought about a Sunday edition - because of the costs. However, they are open to combined subscriptions with a major. "You can always discuss such things," says Walter Herzog, publisher of the Neue Fricktaler Zeitung. "It would be conceivable," says Bernhard Bürli, publisher of the Botschaft. Susi Quinter, publisher of the Volksstimme, is almost enthusiastic: "People like to read on Sunday, a connection might be a good thing," she says. However, a cooperation with AZ Medien would hardly be an option for her - because their Basellandschaftliche Zeitung and the Volksstimme are partly competitors. "The NZZ am Sonntag, on the other hand, could be a good fit for us," she says, "because we've always taken the quality of the NZZ as our model - simply broken down to the local market."
Markus Knöpfli
SoZ ad rate unchanged until mid-year As of March 3, around 40,000 subscribers to the previous BaZ Sunday edition will now receive the SoZ. Will this conservatively estimated additional reach of 80,000 people increase the SoZ advertising rate (currently CHF 29,440 for 1/1 4f)? "No," says SoZ publishing director Diego Quintarelli. "We will pass on the reach increase free of charge to our advertising clients in the first four months - as a thank-you for their loyalty over the past years." Starting July 1, 2013, on the other hand, the circulation increase of more than 20 percent will result in a 5 percent price increase, he said. "Nevertheless, this will once again make SoZ's price-performance ratio much more attractive," he added. SoZ had already increased its advertising rate by 5 percent as of September 2, 2012, justifying this at the time with the "circulation increase due to the cooperation with the Bund" in Bern (plus about 60,000 readers). (mk)
