Ringier ends Sonntagsblick after 57 years

Ringier is ending Sonntagsblick, Switzerland’s oldest Sunday newspaper, after 57 years and replacing it with Blick fürs Wochenende, SRF reported. The new publication will appear on Saturdays.

The paper began as an experiment on March 23, 1969, and attracted more than one million readers at its peak. Its printed circulation has since fallen to 265,000, turning a former success story into a problem for publisher Ringier.

Media journalist Nick Lüthi described the decision as economically understandable, saying circulation had been declining for years. He also linked the fall in readership to changing media habits. Sunday, he said, was no longer the same dedicated reading day it once was.

Ringier CEO Marc Walder signalled the company’s position in an interview with NZZ am Sonntag in the spring, saying media brands that were not economically viable could not be carried into the future. The Ringier Group was no longer prepared to subsidise loss-making newspapers and magazines with income from its digital business, he said.

The change also ends the near monopoly once held by Sunday newspapers, which offered detailed or entertaining reviews of the week’s events. Readers now increasingly scroll through news feeds and short videos instead.

Ringier is following the example of CH Media, the Aargau-based publishing house that discontinued Schweiz am Sonntag in 2017 and has published Schweiz am Wochenende on Saturdays ever since. Blick fürs Wochenende, including its magazine, is expected to contain 96 pages.

Sport coverage will be one of the biggest challenges for the new Saturday edition. Major sporting events often take place on Saturdays, including the Lauberhorn downhill race and the Champions League final. Sonntagsblick has traditionally covered those events afterwards.

“That is perhaps the biggest drawback of a Saturday edition,” Lüthi said. The sports section will nevertheless remain important, with around 30 pages. Portraits and analysis could help the paper, while conventional previews may be less appealing, he said.

Lüthi sees opportunities in combining the Saturday and Sunday editions, saying the concept could attract new groups of readers.

Sonntagsblick was known for its bold, opinionated and direct style. Its history included a report about an alleged affair involving then Swiss ambassador to Berlin Thomas Borer and Djamila Rowe. Ringier later acknowledged errors, and the front page on July 14, 2002, carried a single word: “Apology.”