Silverware is polished in Baden
Starting in January 2002, the print advertising market between Baden and Solothurn will be integrated—without Swisspool
From January 2002, the print advertising market between Baden and Solothurn is integrated - without SwisspoolBy Daniel SchifferleFrom January 2002, the Mittelland Zeitung unites four titles under one newspaper roof and, with a circulation of around 200,000 copies, becomes the third largest newspaper in German-speaking Switzerland. The latest addition in the history of Swiss press mergers will provide the advertising market with a nourishing piece of market coverage between Baden and Solothurn. However, membership of Swisspool is not up for discussion.
The tug-of-war surrounding the Mittelland Zeitung was tough and protracted. Negotiations with various sides went on for more than a year and a half. This was because the Berner Zeitung and the Bund/ NZZ were also eager to expand their territory into the Mittelland. A cooperation with the Solothurner Zeitung would have been an attractive step in this direction for both. But, as expected, the Aargauer Zeitung (AZ) won the day. From January 2002, it will appear together with the Solothurner Zeitung (SZ), the Oltner Tagblatt (OT) and the Zofinger Tagblatt (ZT) under the Mittelland Zeitung label, a joint newspaper umbrella covering the entire Mittelland region between Baden and Solothurn. The basic recipe for the cooperation - the partners retain their legal independence - follows the successful examples of Südostschweiz and St. Galler Tagblatt, which created comparable structures in recent years.
Together, the combined titles along the Aare will reach a circulation of around 200,000 copies and a daily readership of around 374,000. This puts the Mittelland Zeitung in third place among the top ten German-language newspapers in Switzerland, just behind Blick and Tages-Anzeiger and ahead of the Berner Zeitung. In terms of advertising marketing, Publicitas and AZ Media, the marketing unit of the Aargauer Zeitung, are continuing their already well-established "dual market approach" in a modified form (see page 5).
Journalistic dominance of the Aargauer Zeitung
The Aargauer Zeitung will assume the role of journalistic heavyweight in the network. From 2002, its editorial office in Baden will be responsible for the cover section of all four titles. This means that of the five newspaper bundles, four will be supplied by the Aargauer Zeitung. Only the responsibility for the fifth bundle, reserved for cantonal and regional issues, will still lie with the regions. However, savings opportunities will be exploited here as well: AZ and ZT, on the one hand, and SZ and OT, on the other, will be teaming up for their cantonal and regional pages in the future.
The cooperation is a big step for the Solothurner Zeitung, which is moving from being a jacket supplier of the Neue Mittelland Zeitung, which is still valid until the end of the year, to being a jacket subscriber in the new structure.
In the advertising market, from whose additional revenues the main benefit for the new newspaper system is expected, the Mittelland Zeitung offers attractive performance data: Household coverage of over 50 percent, 32 percent of readers have a household income of more than 8000 Swiss francs, nearly two-thirds live in a city or agglomeration, one in five has a university degree, and one in four is in a management position or self-employed.
With this concentrated market power, the Mittelland Zeitung feels strong enough to be successful even without Swisspool. According to Ueli Eckstein, publishing director of the Aargauer Zeitung and project manager and spiritus rector of the merger, membership is "not an issue at the moment. Already four years ago, no solution was found with the Aargauer Zeitung for a participation in Swisspool. The reason: the cost-benefit ratio was not attractive. Eckstein says the priority at the moment is to implement the new newspaper cooperation. "Later, Swisspool could be an option," he adds.
Hansjürg Klöti, Director Advertising Market at Tamedia and Head of Swisspool, said on request that he would not seek talks with Mittelland Zeitung either. Despite the circulation of 200000 copies, because the Swisspool unites the newspapers of the larger agglomerations. "And we don't want to dilute this offer with a title that has a very broad coverage after all."
The synergy opportunities that give the Mittelland Zeitung its meaning remain limited for the time being to the advertising market and certain savings in the editorial offices. Even in printing, where central solutions bring simplifications and savings, nothing can be done in the long term. Each of the newspapers involved has printing presses that will continue to function for years to come. And they want to be utilized to capacity. "As long as the presses are not written off and are doing their job, our partners are very likely to use them," says Eckstein. That's why each of the participating newspapers will print its own edition for the time being. A small exception: The Zofinger Zeitung will only run its regional section on its own press; everything else will be done for it by the Aargauer Zeitung printing plant.
Old partners return to
Family quarrel strengthened back
The partners involved in the Mittelland Zeitung already bring cooperation experience from earlier and ongoing cooperations. As early as 1994, OT, ZT and Aargauer Tagblatt (later merged to form Aargauer Zeitung) had started a headline system with the subtitle Mittelland-Zeitung (with hyphen!). But already in 1996, only two years later, the Aargauer Tagblatt turned its back on the triple alliance to found the Aargauer Zeitung together with Peter Wanner's Badener Tagblatt - and thus enter the magic 100,000 circulation league. The partners of the Mittelland-Zeitung, left alone, needed a replacement. They found it in the West with the Solothurner Zeitung (SZ), which also took over the orphaned role of mantle producer in the cooperation now named Neue Mittelland Zeitung. Now the Aargauer Zeitung returns and lands in the new system Mittelland Zeitung (without hyphen!) with the proud circulation of 200000 copies. To sum up: the row surrounding the merger of the Aargauer Zeitung thoroughly broke up the family in 1996, but now they are all returning, bringing with them plenty of additional market coverage: The new area extends as far as Solothurn and Baden. An explosion compared to the Aarau-Olten-Zofingen cooperation region that existed until October 1996.
The tug-of-war surrounding the Mittelland Zeitung was tough and protracted. Negotiations with various sides went on for more than a year and a half. This was because the Berner Zeitung and the Bund/ NZZ were also eager to expand their territory into the Mittelland. A cooperation with the Solothurner Zeitung would have been an attractive step in this direction for both. But, as expected, the Aargauer Zeitung (AZ) won the day. From January 2002, it will appear together with the Solothurner Zeitung (SZ), the Oltner Tagblatt (OT) and the Zofinger Tagblatt (ZT) under the Mittelland Zeitung label, a joint newspaper umbrella covering the entire Mittelland region between Baden and Solothurn. The basic recipe for the cooperation - the partners retain their legal independence - follows the successful examples of Südostschweiz and St. Galler Tagblatt, which created comparable structures in recent years.
Together, the combined titles along the Aare will reach a circulation of around 200,000 copies and a daily readership of around 374,000. This puts the Mittelland Zeitung in third place among the top ten German-language newspapers in Switzerland, just behind Blick and Tages-Anzeiger and ahead of the Berner Zeitung. In terms of advertising marketing, Publicitas and AZ Media, the marketing unit of the Aargauer Zeitung, are continuing their already well-established "dual market approach" in a modified form (see page 5).
Journalistic dominance of the Aargauer Zeitung
The Aargauer Zeitung will assume the role of journalistic heavyweight in the network. From 2002, its editorial office in Baden will be responsible for the cover section of all four titles. This means that of the five newspaper bundles, four will be supplied by the Aargauer Zeitung. Only the responsibility for the fifth bundle, reserved for cantonal and regional issues, will still lie with the regions. However, savings opportunities will be exploited here as well: AZ and ZT, on the one hand, and SZ and OT, on the other, will be teaming up for their cantonal and regional pages in the future.
The cooperation is a big step for the Solothurner Zeitung, which is moving from being a jacket supplier of the Neue Mittelland Zeitung, which is still valid until the end of the year, to being a jacket subscriber in the new structure.
In the advertising market, from whose additional revenues the main benefit for the new newspaper system is expected, the Mittelland Zeitung offers attractive performance data: Household coverage of over 50 percent, 32 percent of readers have a household income of more than 8000 Swiss francs, nearly two-thirds live in a city or agglomeration, one in five has a university degree, and one in four is in a management position or self-employed.
With this concentrated market power, the Mittelland Zeitung feels strong enough to be successful even without Swisspool. According to Ueli Eckstein, publishing director of the Aargauer Zeitung and project manager and spiritus rector of the merger, membership is "not an issue at the moment. Already four years ago, no solution was found with the Aargauer Zeitung for a participation in Swisspool. The reason: the cost-benefit ratio was not attractive. Eckstein says the priority at the moment is to implement the new newspaper cooperation. "Later, Swisspool could be an option," he adds.
Hansjürg Klöti, Director Advertising Market at Tamedia and Head of Swisspool, said on request that he would not seek talks with Mittelland Zeitung either. Despite the circulation of 200000 copies, because the Swisspool unites the newspapers of the larger agglomerations. "And we don't want to dilute this offer with a title that has a very broad coverage after all."
The synergy opportunities that give the Mittelland Zeitung its meaning remain limited for the time being to the advertising market and certain savings in the editorial offices. Even in printing, where central solutions bring simplifications and savings, nothing can be done in the long term. Each of the newspapers involved has printing presses that will continue to function for years to come. And they want to be utilized to capacity. "As long as the presses are not written off and are doing their job, our partners are very likely to use them," says Eckstein. That's why each of the participating newspapers will print its own edition for the time being. A small exception: The Zofinger Zeitung will only run its regional section on its own press; everything else will be done for it by the Aargauer Zeitung printing plant.
Old partners return to
Family quarrel strengthened back
The partners involved in the Mittelland Zeitung already bring cooperation experience from earlier and ongoing cooperations. As early as 1994, OT, ZT and Aargauer Tagblatt (later merged to form Aargauer Zeitung) had started a headline system with the subtitle Mittelland-Zeitung (with hyphen!). But already in 1996, only two years later, the Aargauer Tagblatt turned its back on the triple alliance to found the Aargauer Zeitung together with Peter Wanner's Badener Tagblatt - and thus enter the magic 100,000 circulation league. The partners of the Mittelland-Zeitung, left alone, needed a replacement. They found it in the West with the Solothurner Zeitung (SZ), which also took over the orphaned role of mantle producer in the cooperation now named Neue Mittelland Zeitung. Now the Aargauer Zeitung returns and lands in the new system Mittelland Zeitung (without hyphen!) with the proud circulation of 200000 copies. To sum up: the row surrounding the merger of the Aargauer Zeitung thoroughly broke up the family in 1996, but now they are all returning, bringing with them plenty of additional market coverage: The new area extends as far as Solothurn and Baden. An explosion compared to the Aarau-Olten-Zofingen cooperation region that existed until October 1996.
