Heute ends – free Blick starts
Swiss free evening daily ‘heute’ by Ringier will be taken from the market in June. It will be replaced by a free evening edition of Blick, Ringier’s tabloid flagship. The timing has to do with the Euro2008 football championship that is organized in June in Switzerland and Austria.
The morning edition of Blick will relaunch tomorrow with a new design which will be a magazine and newspaper at the same time while the 56-page paper will also contain an extended separate sports section (probably also connected to Euro2008).
Ringier is positioning Blick as a multi-platform media brand in print, on TV and radio as well. It also it the best-visited news website. Not all will change, Ringier will keep the page-3 girl.
Blick am Abend is the working title of the new free daily. The ‘heute’ staff will make the new paper as well. (Ringier)
Heute started in May 2006 as reaction to the free daily 20 Minuten. The free paper took the position from Blick as the best-read newspaper in 2003/2004. Launching a morning paper never was an option for Ringier because the publisher feared it would cannibalize on Blick.
Heute has a circulation of 235,000 and is published in different editions for Zurich, Basle and Bern. The paper has a very young readership with more than 50% under 35 years old.
In June .ch will increase circulation to 500,000 while 20 Minuten will publish a Saturday edition.