Switzerland on Sunday is discontinued
It's official now: The days of the Schweiz am Sonntag newspaper are numbered. The media company AZ Medien is merging its Sunday newspaper with the Saturday edition from March 4.
Instead of two editions, one Schweiz am Wochenende will be published on Saturday. This is published by AZ Medien, Somedia and ZT Medien.
The company justifies the move in an editorial in Saturday's Nordwestschweiz with dwindling advertising revenues and high costs for printing, paper and distribution. "This area accounts for a good half of the total costs," write publisher Peter Wanner and editor-in-chief Patrik Müller. The industry magazine Schweizer Journalist had already reported on the plans in early December. "By having only one printing and distribution operation on weekends, AZ Medien will free up resources in this non-publicist area that we can invest in journalistic performance and quality," it continued. At the same time, this step will put the company "one day ahead of conventional Sunday newspapers" in the future.
The new Schweiz am Wochenende will offer reading material for two days with an expanded local section. It will be more comprehensive than Schweiz am Sonntag. The content will be updated for readers who obtain the newspaper online on Sunday.
Launched in 2007
The first issue of the AZ Media Sunday newspaper was published on September 16, 2007. It was launched with a circulation of 240,000 copies. The editor-in-chief at the time was 32-year-old Patrik Müller. The first revision of the layout followed in 2011. In 2013, the Sonntagszeitung was merged with Südostschweiz am Sonntag and appeared from March under the title Schweiz am Sonntag. At that time, the circulation was 203,156 copies; according to the newspaper's website, it is currently 190,176. According to WEMF figures from last April, Schweiz am Sonntag has 345,000 readers.
Job cuts announced
This fall, AZ Medien had announced that it would cut 26 jobs to cut costs. Six layoffs would be made. It was also announced that Schweiz am Sonntag editor-in-chief Müller would additionally take over as head of AZ Nordwestschweiz, Christian Dorer. Dorer is moving to Ringier.
AZ Medien is represented at over 13 locations and has more than 1,000 employees. The media company publishes, among others, the Aargauer Zeitung, the Basellandschaftliche Zeitung, the BZ Basel, the Limmattaler Zeitung, the Solothurner Zeitung, the Grenchner Tagblatt and the Oltner Tagblatt. AZ Medien is also represented in the TV market with stations such as TeleZüri, Tele M1 and TV24. (SDA)
