Ringier ends Sonntagsblick after 57 years

Ringier will discontinue Sonntagsblick after nearly six decades and replace it with a Saturday newspaper called Blick fürs Wochenende from January 2027, SRF reported.

The final edition of Sonntagsblick will be published on 27 December 2026. From 9 January 2027, Ringier will combine its Saturday and Sunday coverage in the new publication.

Sonntagsblick was first published on 23 March 1969 as an experiment in producing a newspaper specifically for Sundays. Its first edition, printed in 90,000 copies, sold out.

At the turn of the millennium, circulation exceeded 330,000 copies, while the newspaper reached more than one million readers at its peak. It was sold at newsstands, delivered to letterboxes and distributed through red newspaper boxes that were a familiar sight in many Swiss municipalities.

The newspaper became known for investigative reports, including stories that later made Sonntagsblick itself the subject of coverage. In 2002, it reported an alleged sexual relationship between Thomas Borer, then Switzerland’s ambassador in Berlin, and make-up artist Djamila Rowe.

The story proved false. Rowe later withdrew a sworn statement in which she had initially confirmed the relationship. It also emerged that Sonntagsblick had paid her 10,000 euros for the information and obtained photographs used in the report under false pretences.

Ringier and Borer reached a settlement in July 2002. The publisher expressed regret for the reporting and the violation of Borer’s privacy, apologised for calling him a “lying ambassador” and paid him undisclosed compensation. The Swiss Press Council found a serious breach of privacy and personal rights and described the payment for information as an unfair method of obtaining information.

In January 2006, the newspaper published an intercepted fax from Egypt’s foreign ministry referring to alleged secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe. Three Sonntagsblick journalists faced a military court over the report and were acquitted in 2007.

The newspaper later lost circulation and reach as the internet changed reading habits and the advertising market. The printed edition still reached 265,000 readers in 2026.