Switzerland: Ringier to launch new free paper - a competitor to 20 Minuten?
Swiss publisher Ringier, who has thought about launching a new free paper for some time, announced today that it would launch a free paper called "heute" (=today) very soon, i.e. before the summer. The new paper will be an evening paper and will be distributed in Zurich, Basel and Bern in the afternoon, reports Persoenlich. The German language newspaper will start with a print run of 200,000 copies per day. Editor in chief will be Bernhard Weissberg, who is currently in charge of the newspaper division at Ringier.
The paper is planned to have 32 pages and will be in tabloid format. It will offer daily news, entertainment, lifestyle and information about events and free time activities as well as TV listings. 15 journalists will work for the new publication. The paper will be distributed mainly in train and bus stations.
Ringier plans to sell ads also in combination with ads for the paid tabloid Blick, offering its advertisers the possibility to reach almost the whole German speaking part of Switzerland with its ads.
heute will be a competitor to 20 Minuten, the free paper published by Tamedia that is already very successful in the German speaking part of Switzerland. According to the newest "Mach Basic 2006" readership statistics that were released yesterday, 20 Minuten has again increased its readership, and now has 1,039,000 readers. It is the most read newspaper in Switzerland. It might be the success of 20 Minuten that has led Ringier to launch an own free paper. The Basler Zeitung argues that 20 Minuten had put pressure on Ringier, especially on its tabloid Blick. However, according to the new readership statistics, also the Blick could increase its readership somewhat and now has 727,000 readers. It will be interesting to watch how the two free papers 20 Minuten and heute will coexist. But as the one is a morning paper and the other an evening paper, readers might decide to read both.
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