NZZ: New regional media division
The NZZ Media Group is uniting its regional media under the umbrella of FPH Freie Presse Holding to form a business division under the leadership of Jürg Weber, currently Head of Media Central Switzerland.
The new Regional Media division comprises the regional daily and Sunday newspapers of the NZZ Media Group, the brand portals Tagblatt.ch and Luzernerzeitung.ch The electronic media in Eastern Switzerland, Radio FM1 and TVO, will not become part of the Regional Media division, but will be merged with a Digital Reach project team to form an innovation cell, which - as a pilot for the entire Group - will develop and test products that link television, radio, online and mobile more closely together. This innovation cell reports to Caroline Thoma, who heads the Operating Office of the CEO of the NZZ Media Group.
Since 2009, key areas of the NZZ Media Group such as finance, HR, IT and online advertising sales have largely been managed centrally. In future, the regional media will work more closely together, including in the editorial area, in reader market development and in the generation of additional business - while maintaining regional and local autonomy.
"We want to further improve our regional and local publishing offering," says Veit Dengler, CEO of the NZZ Media Group. "At the same time, we want to increase efficiency in the areas that do not affect our readers through increased cooperation."
"The merger of the regional media will significantly strengthen them," comments Jürg Weber. "By increasingly exploiting our cooperation potential, we are anticipating critical market developments."
Daniel Ehrat leaves the company
Daniel Ehrat, the current Head of Media Eastern Switzerland, has decided to leave the company as part of the reorganization. In a press release, Veit Dengler acknowledges his contribution to the positive development of the St. Galler Tagblatt: "Daniel Ehrat has worked for Tagblatt Medien in various functions for over 15 years and has thus played a key role in shaping the media landscape in Eastern Switzerland. I would like to thank him warmly for this on behalf of the Board of Directors and company management and wish him all the best and every success in his next steps."
As previously announced, the NZZ Media Group plans to acquire the 25.07 percent stake in FPH held by Publigroupe. The general meeting of Publigroupe will decide on the sale of these shares on Friday.
