By no means provincial

 
Sonntagspresse On September 16, the Mittelland Zeitung (MZ) launches its seventh edition, "Sonntag". 
Sonntag", the new seventh edition for the cantons of Aargau, Solothurn, Baselland and Basel-Stadt, which is included in the MZ subscription, is impressive. The layout looks rather staid and its pastel colors are reminiscent of an old version of the SonntagsZeitung (SoZ). But it comes across as serious, almost statesmanlike even - and by no means provincial. Nevertheless, its origins are not concealed. The font and color of the logo is based on that of the MZ and is supplemented with the abbreviations of the six partner papers: AZ for Aargauer Zeitung, LT for Limmattaler Tagblatt, OT for Oltner Tagblatt, SZ for Solothurner Zeitung, ZT for Zofinger Tagblatt and bz for Basellandschaftliche Zeitung. Finally, CH appears on the edition that will be available at newsstands in the rest of Switzerland. The layout was created by Kurt Schwerzmann, who was also responsible for the AZ and MZ layouts. He was given the task of designing "a classically elegant and at the same time lively and fresh layout that belonged to the AZ/MZ family", says Zeno Läber, who is responsible for overall coordination. The Sonntag is a six-bundle newspaper: "The jacket section with the News and Politics, People and Opinions, Business, Sport and Foyer bundles is produced in Baden. The editorial offices of the partner publishers, on the other hand, are responsible for the regional section, two pages of regional sport and the regional adaptation of the front page," says 32-year-old Sonntag editor-in-chief Patrik Müller.
Müller, who has experience at SonntagsBlick and SoZ, among others, is convinced that his new paper has what it takes to make itself heard nationally. He points to employees such as Arthur Rutishauser, Yves Carpy, Kurt Emil Merki and Othmar von Matt, as well as the fact that Sonntag has three of its own journalists in the Federal Palace - just like SoZ and NZZaS. "We will have prime time and offer at least as good stories as the established competition," Müller is convinced. With one difference: he doesn't want to see "any of the maliciousness and the fun-killing grumpiness" in his paper, which he believes can sometimes be found in other papers.
Will Sonntag be cooperating with the Sunday edition of Südostschweiz? - "Cooperation was never a priority for us. We definitely wanted to start on our own," clarifies Ueli Eckstein, CCO of AZ Medien. However, he adds that talks are still being held with potential partners. "Some of them are very interested," he says. In principle, however, it will be possible "to buy editorial services from us", he says.
"We want to get off to a clean start "Der Sonntag, which like MZ is marketed by Publicitas, is starting with a circulation of 210,000 copies (like MZ) and a reach of 504,000 readers, according to the tariff documentation. The latter is therefore estimated to be more than 60,000 people higher than that of MZ. Eckstein justifies this with the experience that all established Sunday papers have three to four readers per copy (LpE). As the MZ has 2.2 LpE on weekdays, the Sunday paper is estimated to have 2.4 LpE. Although this is modest, it places the seventh edition of MZ in the top third of its competitors in terms of thousand reader price (TLP).
However, Eckstein calculates that if the LpE value were to rise one day - also thanks to the 30,000 newsstand copies - the TLP would fall. But one thing is also certain: at 22,175 francs for a 1/1 four-color page, Sonntag is around 4,300 francs cheaper than MZ. There is no combination with the MZ Saturday edition, for example. "We want to start clean and not be distracted by alternatives," says Eckstein, explaining this strategy. The job market will also be moved from Saturday to Sunday.
With an introductory price of two francs at the kiosk, Sonntag is comparatively inexpensive. However, the definitive retail price is to be decided at the end of the year. The new subscription price with integrated seventh issue, however, has been fixed: AZ subscribers, for example, will pay 395 francs from the next subscription renewal, 36 francs more than today.
For the first time, MZ is launching a joint campaign across several media (print, posters, TV, radio and online) as an entire association. The regionally adapted subjects were designed by Wirz Werbung.
Markus Knöpfli