Little gold in the Goldbach
Little interest in Hitradio Z - and the offer is unclear
Little interest in Hitradio Z - and the offer is unclearBy Markus Knöpfli Zurich's Hitradio Z is up for sale. But who will take over the station? Many of the potentially interested parties are turning it down. The NZZ Group, Tamedia, Clear Channel, Radio 105, AZ Medien or Radio Top are the most likely candidates.
The surprise in the industry is huge: hardly anyone expected Goldbach Media to want to sell the very company from which it emerged. It also seems that Goldbach Media has not really offered its channel to anyone yet. Last Friday's communiqué was therefore launched as a free advertisement in true cross-media fashion - probably to save money.
However, the information in the "advertisement" was incomplete. On Tuesday, nobody knew for sure what exactly was being sold from Hitradio Z: 100% or just shares in it? Also part of the IP Multimedia sales crew? And at what price? Figures between 18 and 30 million are doing the rounds. In the meantime, Goldbach CEO Klaus Kappeler has at least announced that Hitradio Z is for sale in whole or in part, but in any case without the sales crew (see page 18).
Goldbach is under pressure to sell, as Hitradio Z has been steadily losing market share since its repositioning. 2.9% at the end of last year, 2.6% at the end of June 2002 and at the end of September the station still had a market share of 2.4%. During the same period, competitor Radio 24 was able to increase its market share from 3.1 to 3.7%. The wider the gap widens, the more this puts pressure on the sales price. This is why a crew led by Z CEO Jürg Bachmann is currently making hasty "adjustments".
No scope for other content at Hitradio Z
But who could be interested in buying the channel? Clear Channel Plakanda (CCP) is the only one to express "clear interest". However, CEO Beat Roeschlin points out that CCP is not allowed to hold a majority stake for legal reasons due to its American parent company. However, the company no longer wants to get involved in a minority as it did with One FM and Lausanne FM. "For us, Hitradio Z is therefore a lost opportunity," says Roeschlin regretfully.
Giuseppe Scaglione, on the other hand, does not want to "rule anything out". The head of Radio 105, who has been looking for an FM frequency for a long time, has already informed his Italian partner Finelco (49%) about the new opportunity. However, only the "Z-shell" (i.e. frequencies and license area) would be of interest to 105, as this would give Scaglione an even larger area than the Zurich youth radio station, for which he has applied along with many others. "We'll certainly keep our eyes and ears open," says Scaglione.
Another potentially interested party is NZZ, currently a shareholder in five radio stations. However, Beat Lauber, Head of Regional Newspapers, denies this. "That's not worth considering for us, as Z doesn't fit in with our strategy." The NZZ Group's radios are regional newspapers, while the NZZ sees itself as a national newspaper, so a local Zurich station would not fit in. Not even from a pool strategy perspective? "We define ourselves in journalistic terms," replies Lauber succinctly.
At first glance, Tamedia, owner of Radio 24, hardly seems to be a viable buyer, as it had to part with Radio Zürisee on the instructions of the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom) because the diversity of offerings appeared to be at risk. Tamedia spokesman Peter Hartmeier cites legal arguments against a purchase of Z, but interestingly, no strategic arguments. However, when asked whether Tamedia was not even considering an acquisition, he said: "If we were considering it, I wouldn't tell you."
Would it be legally possible for Tamedia to take over Hitradio Z but turn it into a youth or classical radio station? Roland Zbinden, media lawyer at Bakom, emphasizes that both a change of ownership and a reorientation of programming would have to be submitted to the Leuenberger department. In particular, issues relating to the diversity of media and offerings would have to be examined. Furthermore, this would have to be investigated by the Competition Commission, which could see the Zurich advertising market as being too strongly dominated by Tamedia.
Apparently nobody wants to mess with Tamedia
There was no outright "no" from Baden. However, Peter Wanner, board delegate of AZ Medien, expresses only "little interest", as Hitradio Z makes little sense for the group for strategic reasons and hardly enables any synergies. "We would be taking on strategic risks with the number two radio station in Zurich," he says with a sideways glance at Tamedia, which has a cross-media presence in Zurich.
Another candidate could be Radio Top, which could virtually add a fourth window to its windows in Winterthur, Thurgau and St. Gallen, which is economically and strategically interesting, albeit uncertain in terms of media law. Top boss Günter Heuberger does not reject the idea outright, but cites financial concerns. He also does not see a merger with AZ Medien or other, smaller publishers around Zurich, as hardly anyone would want to mess with the big neighbor Tamedia.
In fact, there is no sign of enthusiasm at Zürichsee Medien and Zürcher Oberland Medien AG. No information was available from Ziegler (Landbote) and Akeret (Anzeiger von Uster), and for Rudolf Rentsch, Director at Vogt-Schild/Habegger (Solothurner Zeitung), joining Z is "not an issue".
Hanspeter Lebrument, Delegate of the Board of Directors of Gasser Holding in Chur, is also "not interested in the number two in Zurich". And Beat Meyer, CEO of the Basel media group, does not want to get involved in a new Zurich adventure. Sacha Wigdorovits of 20 Minuten also waves goodbye, Roger Schawinski is bound by a non-compete clause following the sale of Belcom to Tamedia, Christian Kauter, CEO of Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft, has no radio strategy, unlike CCP, and PubliGroupe does not want to get involved in radio marketing again. No statement was available from Jean Frey, nor from Espace Media Groupe. However, as the latter has strong ties with Tamedia, an entry into Z is out of the question.
Everyone is talking about Hitradio Z - no one is talking about Radio Ri, in which Goldbach Media holds a stake of 35%. Is that also up for sale? According to Kappeler, this is at least not out of the question. The NZZ Group is most likely to be interested, as it directly and indirectly owns around 47%. "We will of course discuss expanding this stake," says Lauber.
The surprise in the industry is huge: hardly anyone expected Goldbach Media to want to sell the very company from which it emerged. It also seems that Goldbach Media has not really offered its channel to anyone yet. Last Friday's communiqué was therefore launched as a free advertisement in true cross-media fashion - probably to save money.
However, the information in the "advertisement" was incomplete. On Tuesday, nobody knew for sure what exactly was being sold from Hitradio Z: 100% or just shares in it? Also part of the IP Multimedia sales crew? And at what price? Figures between 18 and 30 million are doing the rounds. In the meantime, Goldbach CEO Klaus Kappeler has at least announced that Hitradio Z is for sale in whole or in part, but in any case without the sales crew (see page 18).
Goldbach is under pressure to sell, as Hitradio Z has been steadily losing market share since its repositioning. 2.9% at the end of last year, 2.6% at the end of June 2002 and at the end of September the station still had a market share of 2.4%. During the same period, competitor Radio 24 was able to increase its market share from 3.1 to 3.7%. The wider the gap widens, the more this puts pressure on the sales price. This is why a crew led by Z CEO Jürg Bachmann is currently making hasty "adjustments".
No scope for other content at Hitradio Z
But who could be interested in buying the channel? Clear Channel Plakanda (CCP) is the only one to express "clear interest". However, CEO Beat Roeschlin points out that CCP is not allowed to hold a majority stake for legal reasons due to its American parent company. However, the company no longer wants to get involved in a minority as it did with One FM and Lausanne FM. "For us, Hitradio Z is therefore a lost opportunity," says Roeschlin regretfully.
Giuseppe Scaglione, on the other hand, does not want to "rule anything out". The head of Radio 105, who has been looking for an FM frequency for a long time, has already informed his Italian partner Finelco (49%) about the new opportunity. However, only the "Z-shell" (i.e. frequencies and license area) would be of interest to 105, as this would give Scaglione an even larger area than the Zurich youth radio station, for which he has applied along with many others. "We'll certainly keep our eyes and ears open," says Scaglione.
Another potentially interested party is NZZ, currently a shareholder in five radio stations. However, Beat Lauber, Head of Regional Newspapers, denies this. "That's not worth considering for us, as Z doesn't fit in with our strategy." The NZZ Group's radios are regional newspapers, while the NZZ sees itself as a national newspaper, so a local Zurich station would not fit in. Not even from a pool strategy perspective? "We define ourselves in journalistic terms," replies Lauber succinctly.
At first glance, Tamedia, owner of Radio 24, hardly seems to be a viable buyer, as it had to part with Radio Zürisee on the instructions of the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom) because the diversity of offerings appeared to be at risk. Tamedia spokesman Peter Hartmeier cites legal arguments against a purchase of Z, but interestingly, no strategic arguments. However, when asked whether Tamedia was not even considering an acquisition, he said: "If we were considering it, I wouldn't tell you."
Would it be legally possible for Tamedia to take over Hitradio Z but turn it into a youth or classical radio station? Roland Zbinden, media lawyer at Bakom, emphasizes that both a change of ownership and a reorientation of programming would have to be submitted to the Leuenberger department. In particular, issues relating to the diversity of media and offerings would have to be examined. Furthermore, this would have to be investigated by the Competition Commission, which could see the Zurich advertising market as being too strongly dominated by Tamedia.
Apparently nobody wants to mess with Tamedia
There was no outright "no" from Baden. However, Peter Wanner, board delegate of AZ Medien, expresses only "little interest", as Hitradio Z makes little sense for the group for strategic reasons and hardly enables any synergies. "We would be taking on strategic risks with the number two radio station in Zurich," he says with a sideways glance at Tamedia, which has a cross-media presence in Zurich.
Another candidate could be Radio Top, which could virtually add a fourth window to its windows in Winterthur, Thurgau and St. Gallen, which is economically and strategically interesting, albeit uncertain in terms of media law. Top boss Günter Heuberger does not reject the idea outright, but cites financial concerns. He also does not see a merger with AZ Medien or other, smaller publishers around Zurich, as hardly anyone would want to mess with the big neighbor Tamedia.
In fact, there is no sign of enthusiasm at Zürichsee Medien and Zürcher Oberland Medien AG. No information was available from Ziegler (Landbote) and Akeret (Anzeiger von Uster), and for Rudolf Rentsch, Director at Vogt-Schild/Habegger (Solothurner Zeitung), joining Z is "not an issue".
Hanspeter Lebrument, Delegate of the Board of Directors of Gasser Holding in Chur, is also "not interested in the number two in Zurich". And Beat Meyer, CEO of the Basel media group, does not want to get involved in a new Zurich adventure. Sacha Wigdorovits of 20 Minuten also waves goodbye, Roger Schawinski is bound by a non-compete clause following the sale of Belcom to Tamedia, Christian Kauter, CEO of Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft, has no radio strategy, unlike CCP, and PubliGroupe does not want to get involved in radio marketing again. No statement was available from Jean Frey, nor from Espace Media Groupe. However, as the latter has strong ties with Tamedia, an entry into Z is out of the question.
Everyone is talking about Hitradio Z - no one is talking about Radio Ri, in which Goldbach Media holds a stake of 35%. Is that also up for sale? According to Kappeler, this is at least not out of the question. The NZZ Group is most likely to be interested, as it directly and indirectly owns around 47%. "We will of course discuss expanding this stake," says Lauber.
