Tamedia in the year 2004
Leadership change in the Magazine Division: On 9 January, Martin Kall took over Alexander Theobald’s position on an interim basis. Theobald left Tamedia and joined Riniger to head its magazine division. His departure was announced in December 2003.
At the end of January, in spite of the challenging economic environment, Tamedia made 0.5% of the total payroll available for individual salary adjustments during the current year. For the employees who are covered by the Viscom collective labor agreement (for technical personnel) Tamedia and the Employee Committee agreed to a general salary increase of 0.5%, effective as of January. Individual salary increases will be reflected in the April salary payment for the first time.
In early February, it was announced that Sandro Rüegger (35) would become the new Manager Advertising Market Magazines. The position was created and initially filled on an interim basis in the fall of 2003, while the magazine division was reorganized. Sandro Rüegger, currently a member of the executive management of the Jean Frey Group and Managing Director of TR7, will take over his new position by 1 September, 2004 at the latest. In the interim, the Managing Director of Spick, Marcel Tappeiner, who is also responsible for promoting magazine sales, will be in charge of the magazine advertising market.
On 6 February, Stefan Barmettler was named new Editor-in-Chief of Facts. He is succeeding Hannes Britschgi who left Tamedia in October 2003. In the meantime, Stefan Barmettler (46) has been heading the news magazine’s editorial department on an interim basis. In addition to his operational responsibilities, the experienced journalist, who was involved in establishing Facts in the spring of 1994, is also leading the efforts of relaunching Facts, scheduled for 7 April.
On 17 February, changes in the management of Radio Basilisk were announced: Christian Heeb, Chairman of the Board, CEO and Programme Director of Radio Basilisk, and Hans-Ruedi Ledermann, Chairman of the Board and CEO of the marketing company Medag AG, will step down as of 1 July. The new Programme Director at Radio Basilisk is the former Head of the Editorial Department, Raphael Suter, and Monique Stauffer will take over as Manager Sales and Marketing of Medag AG. Effective as of 1 July, Andreas Meili, Manager Electronic Media and a member of the Management Board of Tamedia, will assume the position of CEO of Radio Basilisk and Medag AG.
On 25 February, Hans-Ruedi Ledermann (60), founder and co-owner of Medag AG für Medienarbeit, passed away in Basel after a brief illness. He and Christian Heeb made Radio Basilisk the undisputed Number 1 in the Basel region. Hans-Ruedi Ledermann had intended to end his professional career in the summer 2004 “to enjoy retirement”, as he said. For health reasons, he was forced to delegate the daily operations of Medag AG to Monique Stauffer at the beginning of the year. With Hans-Ruedi Ledermann’s death, Medag AG and Radio Basilisk lost a prominent leader, a successful entrepreneur and a kind human being.
At the end of February, Tamedia combined all job classified products within the Tamedia Stellenmarkt (job ad market). This places the print products Alpha and Stellen-Anzeiger as well as the online platform «jobwinner.ch» under the same management. With the new structure, Tamedia expects to make better use of the synergies between print and electronic media, provide a broader coverage for the needs of its customers and therefore, improve its position in this significant advertising segment. Isabel Kaiser will hold the position of Managing Director Job Market and report to Jürg Brauchli, Manager Newspapers.
A decision was made with regard to the succession of Christa Löpfe, Editor-in-Chief of Annabelle: As of 1 May, Lisa Feldmann (45) will be in charge of the women’s magazine. From 1992 to 1995, the new Editor-in-Chief was Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Elle. She then headed the editorial staff of the women’s magazine Cosmopolitan for three years, and subsequently, she was Department Head at Magazin der Süddeutschen Zeitung. She was also involved in relaunching Life & Style. Since March 2002, Lisa Feldmann has been an editor of the trend section of SonntagsZeitung.
Tamedia is going to outsource the Information Technology Division. The Board of Directors voted at the end of March in favor of a corresponding proposal by the Management Board in principle. A preliminary analysis showed that a transfer of the department to an IT specialist would allow a more optimal use of synergies and result in considerable savings. Negotiations with interested parties are underway. The transfer is scheduled for the third quarter 2004. All employees of the information technology department of Tamedia will keep their jobs at the current terms. The availability and stability of the existing electronic systems will not suffer.
Staff renewals at the radio stations: Andreas Meier (31), a long-standing presenter at Radio 24, as of 1 April becomes the new Head of Music at Radio 24 and Radio Basilisk and a new member of the programming team of both stations. At Radio Basilisk, the former Deputy Editorial Director, Benedikt Erni (28), takes over the management of the editorial team. He replaces Raphael Suter, who takes over from Christian Heeb as Programme Director. The new Deputy Editorial Director of Basilisk will be the 27-year-old Nicolas Drechsler.
The AG für Werbemittelforschung (wemf) published the circulation figures gathered for the year 2003 at the beginning of April. Three Tamedia titles showed a positive development, while three had to accept losses. The winners are the Tages-Anzeiger (+ 0.9 % to 236,569), the SonntagsZeitung (+0.1 % to 202,255) and the Schweizer Familie (+1.6 % to 162,255). Circulation fell for Facts (–13.4 % to 75,704), Annabelle (–2.3 % to 72,010) and Finanz und Wirtschaft (–13.4 % to 38,354).
Exactly nine years to the day after its launch, Facts magazine will appear on 7 April in an optically and structurally revised form. The layout is more calmly designed, while the proportion of pictures has been reduced in favor of more information graphics. In content terms, the relaunch brings a stronger orientation of the magazine towards politics, the economy, society and culture.
Gerhart Isler, publisher of Finanz und Wirtschaft for the last 16 years, announces on 30 April his resignation at the end of 2004. On 1 January, 2005 he will hand over his office as President of the Boar of Directors of Finanz und Wirtschaft to Martin Kall. Martin Kall will enter the Board this May, at the same time as Daniel Manser, Director of financial accounting/controlling at Tamedia. Editor-in-chief Peter Bohnenblust remains a member of the Board and the Management of Finanz und Wirtschaft. From the beginning of 2005, the management will include both Peter Schuppli (existing manager) and Martin Coninx as Publishing Manager of Finanz und Wirtschaft.
The successor of Christa Löpfe, Editor-in-Chief of Annabelle, has been arranged; from 1 May, Lisa Feldmann (45) will be in charge of the women’s magazine. The new editor-in-chief was deputy editor-in-chief of Elle between 1992 and 1995. After that she headed the editorial team at the women’s magazine Cosmopolitan. She was then active as head of department at the Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin and participated in the relaunch of Life & Style. Since March 2002 Lisa Feldmann has worked as an editor in the Trends section of the SonntagsZeitung Sunday newspaper.
Schweizer Familie is to receive a gentle facelift in mid-May. The aim of the redesign is to make the magazine lighter, fresher and more feminine. In its new outfit, Schweizer Familie aims to provide even better coverage of the needs of its female readers. The content concept remains unchanged.
The General meeting of Berner Zeitung AG elects Martin Kall to its Board of Directors on 18 May. He replaces the long-standing BZ Board member Robert Karrer, Executive Vice President of Tamedia. The two other representatives of Tamedia in the seven-member BZ Board of Directors are Iwan Rickenbacher and Pietro Supino. Tamedia holds 49 % of the shares in Berner Zeitung AG.
On 19 May the Bubenberg printing facility celebrates its 20th year of existence and the startup of the world’s first ever 6/2 newspaper printing press from Koenig & Bauer with two festive events. The Tages-Anzeiger and SonntagsZeitung will issue a joint special edition to mark this occasion.
At the General meeting attended by 385 shareholders on 26 May, the Board of Directors makes the application for the waiving of dividends. The annual accounts close with a consolidated loss of 17.7 mill. CHF. The poor result reflects not only the difficult economic situation. The main causes of the loss are extraordinary depreciations and high restructuring costs. The one-off costs amounted to 57.2 mill. CHF. For social plans alone, 24.4 mill. CHF were deferred. The General meeting approves the annual accounts and elects Konstantin Richter to the Board of Directors. This means that all three branches of the owners’ family are represented in the most senior body of the company. Konstantin Richter (33) is along with Pietro Supino the second representative of the fifth generation on the Board. Based on his training and professional experience he will bring additional journalistic and publishing expertise.
20 Minuten is expanding into Central Switzerland: after its successful entrance in Zurich, Basel and Berne, the commuter newspaper is launching a regional edition on 1 June for the cities of Lucerne and Zug and the surrounding area, with an initial print run of 40,000 copies. The paper will be printed in the Bubenberg printing facility. Distribution takes place via around 100 boxes at 60 major stops on Swiss Federal Railways as well as service stations, bakeries, cafés, restaurants and various post offices. For the Central Swiss edition of 20 Minuten, three new editorial posts have been created and various freelance journalists have been signed up.
At the end of June, Tamedia takes back the Magazines processing facility that it had transferred in December 2003 to Printpark AG and will continue the activities until further notice. In the event of a closure of the business, Tamedia would pay for the costs of the social plan. Printpark had taken over processing (with 14 staff) in December 2003 with the intention of improving the utilization of capacity in the division by processing internal orders. The company located in Rapperswil is in serious economic difficulties.
Sandra Geiger resigns the editorial management of the SonntagsZeitung and leaves Tamedia. She is taking charge of publishing at the Bilanz business magazine at Jean Frey by the beginning of December 2004 at the latest. The choice of a successor at the SonntagsZeitung remains open.
In mid-August the change in the publishing management of Facts is announced. Daniel Schnüriger, Manager of agency advertising sales, steps into the position of Gregor J. Eschle, who leaves Tamedia. At the same time, the separate sales and consultancy teams for media agencies at Facts, Schweizer Familie and Annabelle are being dissolved and integrated into their respective sales teams.
Tamedia announces its half-yearly figures for 2004. They show that the company has returned to profit after a loss in the preceding year. Consolidated profit amounts to CHF mill. 18.0. Operating profit improved from CHF mill. 11.8 to 43.6. As a consequence of the restructuring measures, the operating expenses fell from CHF mill. 278.8 to 234.8. Operating income fell by 4.2 % to CHF mill. 278.4.
At the end of August Uli Rubner is appointed as the new Head of the Magazines Division and a Member of the Management Board. She enters her post on 3 January, 2005. Until that time the division continues to be run on an interim basis by Martin Kall. Uli Rubner began her professional career as a journalist and later switched to the publishing business. In March 2000 she took charge of publishing at Die Weltwoche and became a member of the management team at Jean Frey AG. From June 2003 she was additionally responsible for the publishing of Bilanz.
Das Magazin goes national: from January 8, 2005, on Saturdays, it is set to be enclosed with the Basler Zeitung, the Berner Zeitung and the Solothurner Tagblatt – this is announced at the end of August. This means a rise in the print run of the magazine from 280,000 to 500,000 copies. Thanks to its distribution in two further urban regions of German-speaking Switzerland, Das Magazin is able to make a sustainable improvement in its position in the readership and advertising market. With regard to the geographical expansion, the magazine under the direction of Editor-in-Chief Res Strehle will also be nationally oriented in terms of content.
The commuter newspaper 20 Minuten moves closer to Tamedia. In March 2005 the publishing and editorial teams will move from the Airgate in Zurich Oerlikon to Tamedia’s headquarter on the Werdstrasse. From 1 April, 2005 the run of around 200,000 copies of the Zurich edition of 20 Minuten will no longer be printed in Vorarlberg but in the Bubenberg printing facility. Since 1 June the Lucerne edition of the free sheet has already been produced there (print run 40,000).
At the beginning of September, Tamedia announces a new weekly title for the automotive market, the car4you-Zeitung. The paper is published in a print run of 35,000 copies and is available in German-speaking Switzerland from October 14 at around 4,000 points of sale. The launch takes place in collaboration with the Zurich-based company car4you Schweiz AG, which for the last four years has operated an online platform currently containing around 60,000 vehicle offers. The advertisements appearing in the newspaper are generated from the online platform. The publisher of the car4you-Zeitung is affiliated to the Tamedia automobile market. The title, which besides advertisements contains editorial articles on the subject of automobiles, is printed at Tamedia’s Bubenberg printing facility.
On 9 September, Tamedia and the west-Swiss media company Edipresse announce their entry to the Swiss property online portal homegate.ch (subject to the approval of the competition commission). As a first step, Tamedia and Edipresse take a 14.5 % stake each in homegate AG. Martin Kall becomes a member of the Board of homegate AG. The takeover of the majority is scheduled for 2008. Until then the Zurich Cantonal Bank remains the main shareholder. The existing electronic marketplaces of Tamedia (tagesanzeiger.ch/immobilien) and Edipresse (swissimo.ch) are set to be integrated into homegate.ch, while the synergies between homegate.ch and the property sections in the companies’ print products will be exploited.
From mid-September the Outsourcing of the IT division decided in the spring is implemented. From 1 October, Swisscom-IT-Services takes charge of information technology at Tamedia. The staff affected by the outsourcing will be taken on by Swisscom-IT-Services under the same conditions as before and with a guarantee of employment lasting several years. The majority of the jobs will remain at the existing Tamedia locations.
Werd Verlag under interim management: Gregory C. Zäch becomes the successor of Gian Laube, the Publishing Director who entered early retirement in the summer, on a temporary basis until the end of the year. In this way continuity of programming is assured. Zäch is the founder and owner of Midas Verlags AG, active in the area of technical literature, and Midas Management AG, whose activities he continues to direct. The chief position in the Werd Verlag is to be definitively allocated in the fourth quarter of 2004.
On 22 September, SF DRS and Tamedia enter a media partnership: Schweizer Familie and the health magazine programme Puls from Schweizer Fernsehen DRS television want their journalists to work together. As part of this cooperation, Schweizer Familie will extend its Health and Medicine section from 1 October, 2004 and refer (review, questions on the viewers’ phone line, preview) to Puls broadcasts. With a market share of 32.3 %, this production by SF DRS is the most successful medical programme in Switzerland.
On 23 September, the Tages-Anzeiger announces the launch of a regional edition: to strengthen its position in the Zurich metropolitan area, the Tages-Anzeiger brings a separate edition for the left bank of Lake Zurich to market on 28 February, 2005 (instead of March 2005 as originally planned). Under the project management of Daniela Decurtins, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, a local editorial team is being built up in Wädenswil. The original plan was to settle the editorial and publishing teams in Horgen. However, suitable offices were found in Wädenswil. The publisher is forming a regional sales team to acquire official communications and local advertisements.