News network relies on existing strong brands
The announced online network from Tamedia, Espace Media, and Basler Zeitung will launch on August 8—just in time for the Olympic Games. It is designed to offer visitors to the existing platforms more content and to leverage the well-known newspaper brands.
Tamedia wants to ride the online wave this year. The announced online network, which now bears the name "Newsnetz", will be launched on August 8 - just in time for the Olympic Games. By the end of 2008, the network will comprise a total of around 43 full-time positions, 24 of which will be in the editorial office in Zurich. Partners in the Internet project are the Tages-Anzeiger, the Basler Zeitung and the Berner Zeitung, with other newspapers such as the Landbote to join later. There will not be a common address, but the website will run under the existing Internet address for all partners. Tamedia CEO Martin Kall defended this approach when asked whether this was not a missed opportunity to create a strong new brand: He assumes that readers will remain loyal to their regular platform and will quickly realize that there is now a lot more content to discover. "The traditional brands have a very good starting point," says Kall. Tagesanzeiger.ch has been operating with a very lean editorial team for years, yet the website is still one of the ten most used portals in the country. He attributes this to the reputation of the Tages-Anzeiger brand.
The company now wants to massively increase its content together with its partners. The fact that all websites attached to the network will then have the same content is not a problem: the overlap of users is less than 10 percent. In addition, each publication can determine the weighting on the front page itself, and local editorial teams are to ensure regionalization.
The development of the editorial team and the technical platform is "on track", according to the media conference. However, much still needs to be clarified, such as the question of the extent to which the regionalization of the various newspapers should be reflected on the Internet.
However, there is no doubt for the publishing house that online offerings have a future. Proof of this is the 20minuten.ch portal, which has massively increased its reach after the editorial team was expanded. "In the medium term, 20 Minuten will have more employees in the online editorial team than in the print editorial team - that is unique in Switzerland," says Kall. He hopes that the advertising industry will also make a strong commitment to the online medium - in his opinion, Switzerland has some catching up to do here.
The company now wants to massively increase its content together with its partners. The fact that all websites attached to the network will then have the same content is not a problem: the overlap of users is less than 10 percent. In addition, each publication can determine the weighting on the front page itself, and local editorial teams are to ensure regionalization.
The development of the editorial team and the technical platform is "on track", according to the media conference. However, much still needs to be clarified, such as the question of the extent to which the regionalization of the various newspapers should be reflected on the Internet.
However, there is no doubt for the publishing house that online offerings have a future. Proof of this is the 20minuten.ch portal, which has massively increased its reach after the editorial team was expanded. "In the medium term, 20 Minuten will have more employees in the online editorial team than in the print editorial team - that is unique in Switzerland," says Kall. He hopes that the advertising industry will also make a strong commitment to the online medium - in his opinion, Switzerland has some catching up to do here.
