From media to content distributor

It is obvious: Ringier has become aware that the main competence of a media company is primarily to collect, prepare and disseminate information. The path via printed paper is simply one of many distribution options. In the age of digitization, however, many other distribution channels are available. But a media company can hardly distinguish itself through distribution. Everyone can print anyway. And in the case of digital distribution channels, there are opportunities for profiling, but at best these create short-term competitive advantages. That is, if you are the first to use a technical solution that really hits home with the audience. But failure is about equally likely. The bottom line is that all media companies rely on roughly the same number of successful and unsuccessful paths.

The collection and processing of information, on the other hand, is completely different. Here, expertise is an asset that depends on people with their knowledge, experience and relationships, and thus makes it possible to stand out from the competition. In Ringier's various editorial departments, specialized knowledge is primarily represented in the topics of entertainment/people, sports, automobiles, food and drink, health, politics, and business (see overview "Ringier's topic areas and media").

Entertainment is the soul of Ringier
The topic of entertainment/people has lain dormant in Ringier's soul at least since the launch of the magazine "Ringiers Unterhaltungsblätter" (1922). Or as CEO Marc Walder put it at the Epiphany conference: "Ringier media have an affinity for entertainment in their DNA." Entertainment, or entertainment, is also now the subject area in which the consistent expansion of activities across the entire value chain has progressed furthest. What is new in this area (but also in sports) is that a media company earns money not only from reporting, but also from the management of important exponents. Stars and starlets, artists and athletes are, so to speak, passed on in-house and used from A to Z. This has already advanced in the media industry. This strategy, which has already been extensively discussed in the media industry, is fundamentally conflict-ridden. The best way to illustrate this is with an example.

What does the Blick journalist do who knows internas about the behavior of ski star Lara Gut and knows, for example, that the young woman has really behaved completely impossible towards the ski association? His journalist heart naturally wants to pillory the "bitch Lara Gut". His mind, on the other hand, as an employee of the Ringier company, which has a management contract with Lara Gut, will think twice about what he should do: Strike with the two-handed sword, write a soft-pedaled version or rather forget the story. Well understood: This has nothing whatsoever to do with any internal company directives. These are just the thoughts in a journalist's head. His effective action ultimately depends only on his strength of character. If he decides against the "heart variant," his knowledge and relationships will not be used optimally.

There is further potential for conflict in the event sector, where Ringier has held a majority of the votes in Good News Productions AG for many years and professes to want to be the leading company for live events in Switzerland. Here, too, journalists repeatedly find themselves in the position of having to criticize an event organized by this subsidiary. But those responsible in the executive suites know very well that they have to back up the editorial staff here as well. At the Epiphany meeting, for example, Ringier CEO Marc Walder drew attention to the fact that Blick had ripped the Madonna concert in Dübendorf. And he also pointed to a very old analogy in France. There, the major sports newspaper L'Equipe is the organizer of the Tour de France. At the same time, however, it also repeatedly uncovered doping scandals. Because the publisher knows very well that it would damage the credibility of the title more if another medium were to uncover such a case.

With sports, Walder mentioned precisely the subject area where Ringier still has the biggest gap. The overview of "Ringier's thematic areas and media" shows no activities in the TV topic of sports, which has a high audience share. Yet the starting position is actually ideal. With its holdings in Sat.1 (Schweiz) AG (50%) and Teleclub AG (33.3%), Ringier already has relationships with distribution channels. Years ago, Ringier also broadcast a Swiss soccer championship match on Sunday afternoons for Sat.1. Sat.1 held the rights in that case.

Click here for the overview: Ringier's subject areas and media.pdf.

Will Ringier acquire Swiss soccer and ice hockey rights?
In 2012, the broadcasting rights for the national championship games in soccer and ice hockey will expire. This naturally raises the question of whether Ringier wants to have a say in the reallocation. Head of Communications Estermann says: "Due to the diversification of our business, we are currently examining new commitments in various areas as part of Ringier's strategy. This certainly includes the area of sports broadcasting rights." The problem with this is that, until now, the costs of production and rights have been significantly higher than the potential revenues. And since the leagues have been complaining for years that the income from TV rights in Switzerland is far too low, it will take a stroke of genius to bring this calculation back into balance. At least the situation is now somewhat better than it was just a few years ago. For example, German advertising regulations would apply to Sat.1. These are much more liberal than the Swiss regulations at the time, when Sat.1 last broadcast Swiss soccer matches. Ringier could also bring ticketing into a possible deal. Ticketcorner already sells tickets for many clubs' home games.

Other opportunities could arise with the Football Champions League. ProSiebenSat.1 still holds the rights there in Germany until the end of the 2011/2012 season, and has repositioned Sat.1 as a soccer station. If the German group were to bid for the future as well, an affiliation deal for Switzerland would theoretically be conceivable. According to Ringier, however, this scenario is hardly conceivable. Ringier is already anchored in the TV business with the Blick TV apps for iPhone and iPad, for which it also charges money. The iPhone apps for soccer, ice hockey and alpine skiing, on the other hand, are free.
At the very least, there are points of contact with sports when it comes to automobiles. With Blick, Ringier has a title in its portfolio that has been cultivating automotive sports for decades. Its employee Roger Benoit is described by the Swiss journalist as the best Formula 1 expert far and wide. Given 41 years of experience in Formula 1, an easily understandable verdict. And the Swiss magazine Schweizer Illustrierte and its French sister regularly cover the subject of cars with supplements and columns. In addition, the motorshow is produced and edited in German and French and broadcast on SRG's second channels in both language regions.

Other topics with less broad offerings
The range of topics is somewhat less broad for food and drink, health, business and politics. All four topics are played on the print, online, mobile and TV channels. On the subject of health, there is also a joint website Vitagate.ch, which is operated by the online subsidiary Gate 24 together with the Swiss Druggists Association. In addition, there is the TV program Gesundheit - Sprechstunde (Health - Consultation Hour) on SF 1, including a corresponding online presence. It is in a permanent clash with Bakom, which repeatedly admonishes violations of the rather restrictive regulations for sponsoring.
The food and beverage sector is far less troublesome. Here, with the Betty Bossi brand, a presumably highly profitable joint venture with Coop has existed for a long time. Betty Bossi reported total sales of around 90 million Swiss francs for 2009. Half of this is still to be found in Ringier's books. Added to this is the production of all Betty Bossi's print products. Last but not least, more than 800,000 copies of the Betty Bossi newspaper are printed ten times a year. And from the kitchen of Ringier TV comes the new cooking show "Ab in die Küche," which SF 1 will broadcast starting in April 2011.

Since the discontinuation of the print edition of Cash, the business section has been somewhat weaker. This is because the Blick titles are not really the ideal partner in the print sector. But with www.cash.ch, iPhone apps and the TV program Cash-TV on SF zwei, this topic also has an appealing range of communication channels. The situation is similar for politics, where L'Hébdo, a publishing heavyweight, is published in the print market in western Switzerland. If the Blick titles and the Ticino Sunday newspaper Il Caffè (in which Ringier holds 45 percent) are included, politics is even present in all three language regions of Switzerland. A geographical breadth that no other Swiss media company can offer.

Ueli Custer