Joint online platform from publishers put on hold
The joint online platform planned by Tamedia, Ringier, NZZ and Orell Füssli has been put on hold for the time being. One of the reasons is the complexity of the project, as Tamedia spokesman Christoph Zimmer confirmed an advance report from Handelszeitung on Wednesday.
The publishers had examined whether - as a pilot project - a joint platform of various Swiss media would make sense, Zimmer said in response to an inquiry from the SDA news agency. Swisscom was also involved as a partner and would have been responsible for payment processing. Users would have been able to consume Swiss content on various channels, as Zimmer explained. The advantage of this would have been that a user would only have had to register once in order to access the content of the various publishers as a subscription or individually.
A pilot test was carried out last year. According to Zimmer, selected users were provided with a device - a kind of e-book. They were able to test the device and the content. The trial was very interesting and valuable. Nevertheless, the partners decided to abandon the project. Zimmer cited the complexity of the project as one of the reasons. On the other hand, Apple had changed the guidelines regarding the subscription model: The providers would have been forced to go through the iTunes store.
Not buried forever
Certainly, a lot had been invested in the project, Zimmer said. But it is not the case that it was not worth it. For everyone involved, it was a new field in which they could gain experience. The project has not been buried forever, said the Tamedia spokesman, but is currently on hold. The company is keeping an eye on developments. A lot can change in the field in a short time. Possibly one will come back to it later. (SDA)
