Le Matin becomes more handy on weekdays
(Almost) everything is new in May at the French publishing house Edipresse
(Almost) everything is new at the French publishing house Edipresse in MayBy Christophe BüchiAfter a long period of back and forth, Edipresse is taking the big step: from May 8, Le Matin will come to readers on weekdays in tabloid format. The Sunday edition of Le Matin-Dimanche will become partially independent, but will retain its old format.
The soft tabloid Le Matin, which grew out of the former Tribune de Lausanne, is a peculiar hybrid. On weekdays, it appears as a regional language morning newspaper with a circulation of a good 66,000 copies, competing in part with the Edipresse newspapers 24 Heures and Tribune de Genève. On Sunday, on the other hand, LeMatin-Dimanche is the lone leader on the French-speaking market. Its monopoly has only been marginally challenged by the new Ringier paper dimanche.ch. Its circulation exceeds 220000 copies on the day of the Lord, giving the newspaper a fabulous reach of 603000 readers - and this in a market with just over twice the population.
Le Matin not only has two souls in its chest, but also two very different balance sheets. The Sunday edition is the real "cash cow" in the Edipresse stable and is likely to bring in tens of millions in profits. On weekdays, on the other hand, Le Matin is below the waterline. However, it is not possible to determine this precisely, as Le Matin and LeMatin-Dimanche are not separate profit centers and the costs are borne jointly. Nevertheless, the weekday edition is actually cross-subsidized by the Sunday edition. This is why French media insiders regularly circulate the rumor that the weekday edition will be discontinued. But Edipresse has still backed away from this step, convinced that it would also reduce the profitability of the Sunday edition.
Resistance in the editorial team to the new format
After a long period of hesitation, Edipresse managers have now decided to make a fresh start at Le Matin. Publishing director Théo Bouchat had been known for some time that he wanted a transition to the tabloid format. However, the final decision was constantly postponed. This was because the new Le Matin editor-in-chief, Daniel Pillard, a doer who was lured away from the top of Ringier's L'Illustré magazine last year, was struggling with an actual editorial front until Christmas, which almost cost him his neck and his job.
Obviously, the old "Le Matin bunnies" feared a radical tabloidization of the paper. Group dynamics also seem to have played a role. Pillard, like Bouchat and 24 Heures editor-in-chief Jacques Poget, comes from Ringier. However, "foreign fools" have a hard time in the hothouse climate of Edipresse: Bouchat's predecessor Jacques Pilet, who was ousted after only a short stint as Edipresse publishing director, already had to learn this.
But now the storm is over. As Le Matin editor-in-chief Pillard confirmed to WerbeWoche, it is certain that Le Matin will be published in tabloid format from May 8. Details of the new layout are still being kept secret. Although several pilot issues have already been produced, the first step is to fine-tune the layout before informing customers and the media. However, the direction is clear for Pillard: Le Matin is to become fresher, bolder and more urban.
In addition, research and writing will be more hands-on in future. The halved format also forces greater concentration and focus. When asked whether the editorial team is now behind the new concept, Pillard assures: "Definitely. The conflicts we had were not about the concept, but about my management methods. Many editors basically didn't want a real boss, but wanted to continue to do as they pleased."
Are commuter newspapers being slowed down?
The transition to the tabloid format is therefore tantamount to a liberating blow that should shake up the editorial team and the outside world in equal measure. However, Bouchat and Pillard are also likely to have closely followed the experiences of the Swiss-German commuter newspapers.
The new, handy format is intended to ensure that such competitors do not even appear on the scene. The only question is how the more conservative French-speaking media consumers will react to this little revolution from Edipresse. After all, they are already familiar with the tabloid format from the weekly newspapers Coopération (Coop) and Construire (Migros).
Edipresse, on the other hand, has no plans for a radical revolution on Sunday: Le Matin-Dimanche will continue to be published in its traditional newspaper format. However, a renovated layout of the Sunday edition has been announced for May 13. It will also have its own editorial team, which will be headed by Michel Zendali from April.
The "Pilet-Boy" (Zendali on Zendali) is a political journalist with no fear of the tabloids, who earned his spurs at Le Nouveau Quotidien and L'Hebdo. As head of his own team, Zendali has the opportunity to give Le Matin-Dimanche its own corporate culture with a weekly newspaper identity. But Zendali is subordinate to Pillard: The separation between weekday and Sunday editions thus goes less far at Le Matin than at Blick/SonntagsBlick and Tages-Anzeiger/SonntagsZeitung.
As you can see: If there is to be a revolution, then Edipresse wants a revolution without bloodshed on Sunday. The Lamunière Group's already legendary mistrust of overly radical changes is understandable: Le Matin-Dimanche is so successful that they think twice before changing anything.
The soft tabloid Le Matin, which grew out of the former Tribune de Lausanne, is a peculiar hybrid. On weekdays, it appears as a regional language morning newspaper with a circulation of a good 66,000 copies, competing in part with the Edipresse newspapers 24 Heures and Tribune de Genève. On Sunday, on the other hand, LeMatin-Dimanche is the lone leader on the French-speaking market. Its monopoly has only been marginally challenged by the new Ringier paper dimanche.ch. Its circulation exceeds 220000 copies on the day of the Lord, giving the newspaper a fabulous reach of 603000 readers - and this in a market with just over twice the population.
Le Matin not only has two souls in its chest, but also two very different balance sheets. The Sunday edition is the real "cash cow" in the Edipresse stable and is likely to bring in tens of millions in profits. On weekdays, on the other hand, Le Matin is below the waterline. However, it is not possible to determine this precisely, as Le Matin and LeMatin-Dimanche are not separate profit centers and the costs are borne jointly. Nevertheless, the weekday edition is actually cross-subsidized by the Sunday edition. This is why French media insiders regularly circulate the rumor that the weekday edition will be discontinued. But Edipresse has still backed away from this step, convinced that it would also reduce the profitability of the Sunday edition.
Resistance in the editorial team to the new format
After a long period of hesitation, Edipresse managers have now decided to make a fresh start at Le Matin. Publishing director Théo Bouchat had been known for some time that he wanted a transition to the tabloid format. However, the final decision was constantly postponed. This was because the new Le Matin editor-in-chief, Daniel Pillard, a doer who was lured away from the top of Ringier's L'Illustré magazine last year, was struggling with an actual editorial front until Christmas, which almost cost him his neck and his job.
Obviously, the old "Le Matin bunnies" feared a radical tabloidization of the paper. Group dynamics also seem to have played a role. Pillard, like Bouchat and 24 Heures editor-in-chief Jacques Poget, comes from Ringier. However, "foreign fools" have a hard time in the hothouse climate of Edipresse: Bouchat's predecessor Jacques Pilet, who was ousted after only a short stint as Edipresse publishing director, already had to learn this.
But now the storm is over. As Le Matin editor-in-chief Pillard confirmed to WerbeWoche, it is certain that Le Matin will be published in tabloid format from May 8. Details of the new layout are still being kept secret. Although several pilot issues have already been produced, the first step is to fine-tune the layout before informing customers and the media. However, the direction is clear for Pillard: Le Matin is to become fresher, bolder and more urban.
In addition, research and writing will be more hands-on in future. The halved format also forces greater concentration and focus. When asked whether the editorial team is now behind the new concept, Pillard assures: "Definitely. The conflicts we had were not about the concept, but about my management methods. Many editors basically didn't want a real boss, but wanted to continue to do as they pleased."
Are commuter newspapers being slowed down?
The transition to the tabloid format is therefore tantamount to a liberating blow that should shake up the editorial team and the outside world in equal measure. However, Bouchat and Pillard are also likely to have closely followed the experiences of the Swiss-German commuter newspapers.
The new, handy format is intended to ensure that such competitors do not even appear on the scene. The only question is how the more conservative French-speaking media consumers will react to this little revolution from Edipresse. After all, they are already familiar with the tabloid format from the weekly newspapers Coopération (Coop) and Construire (Migros).
Edipresse, on the other hand, has no plans for a radical revolution on Sunday: Le Matin-Dimanche will continue to be published in its traditional newspaper format. However, a renovated layout of the Sunday edition has been announced for May 13. It will also have its own editorial team, which will be headed by Michel Zendali from April.
The "Pilet-Boy" (Zendali on Zendali) is a political journalist with no fear of the tabloids, who earned his spurs at Le Nouveau Quotidien and L'Hebdo. As head of his own team, Zendali has the opportunity to give Le Matin-Dimanche its own corporate culture with a weekly newspaper identity. But Zendali is subordinate to Pillard: The separation between weekday and Sunday editions thus goes less far at Le Matin than at Blick/SonntagsBlick and Tages-Anzeiger/SonntagsZeitung.
As you can see: If there is to be a revolution, then Edipresse wants a revolution without bloodshed on Sunday. The Lamunière Group's already legendary mistrust of overly radical changes is understandable: Le Matin-Dimanche is so successful that they think twice before changing anything.
