Ringier

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Ringier Holding AG

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1833
Seat Zofingen , SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland 
management Marc Walder
(Chief Executive Officer)
Michael Ringier
( Chairman )
Number of employees 7,147 (2019)
sales 984.8 million CHF (2019)
Branch media
Website www.ringier.com

Ringier is a diversified media company that operates in several countries and employs around 7,100 people. Founded in 1833, Ringier carries media brands in print, TV, radio, online and mobile and is active in the printing, entertainment and internet business. Ringier is a Swiss family company headquartered in Zurich. The headquarters of Ringier Holding AG in Zofingen , Aargau .

Printed matter

In its home market of Switzerland, Ringier publishes numerous newspapers and magazines , including their online and mobile products (news platforms, e-magazines, apps).

View from the 6th floor of the Ringier press building in Zurich
Reception desk at the Ringier Press House in Zurich

German Switzerland

Newspapers and magazines and online platforms

Western Switzerland

Further Europe, Asia and Africa

Ringier is active in a joint venture with the German publisher Axel Springer SE ( Ringier Axel Springer Media AG ) in Hungary , Poland , Serbia and Slovakia . Ringier publishes various media online and offline in China , Vietnam , Ghana , Senegal , Nigeria , Kenya , Uganda , Tanzania and Myanmar .

entertainment

In the entertainment division, the media company is involved in activities related to TV, radio, events and entertainment services (e.g. ticketing).

TV

Ringier produces various lifestyle TV formats such as Energy TV and LandLiebe TV.

radio

The portfolio includes the two private radio stations Energy Zurich and Energy Bern , in which Ringier has a stake alongside the NRJ Group , as well as a minority stake in Energy Basel .

Events

The music festival Moon and Stars in Locarno is organized by Ringier, as are the various integrated event formats from Radio Energy (examples Energy Star Night , Energy Live Session, Energy Fashion Night , Energy Air).

Services

The group has participated in several marketing and consulting service providers in the entertainment and event sector.

Digital

Ringier invested early in online platforms, mobile apps, marketplaces, e-commerce, online marketing and technology.

Marketplaces

The portfolio includes the leading classifieds in Switzerland AutoScout24 , MotoScout24 , ImmoScout24 and JobScout24 as well as the classifieds platform anibis.ch . In July 2014, the American private equity company KKR took over 49% of Ringier Digital AG in the business of Scout24 Switzerland . In addition, Ringier and Tamedia each have a 50% stake in the largest Swiss job market, JobCloud AG (jobs.ch, jopup.ch, topjobs.ch, alpha.ch).

Internet

Ringier operates various shopping platforms such as DeinDeal and giftidee.ch. The business portal cash.ch is run by Ringier in cooperation with the bank zweiplus .

Ringier School of Journalism

An in-house journalism school has existed since 1974, supported by the Hans Ringier Foundation. The training center is located on the Römerhalde in Zofingen. The two-year training combines theory on the one hand with practical assignments in Ringier's internal editorial offices on the other. Over 300 journalists have graduated with a diploma since it was founded - including the publisher Michael Ringier himself. The journalism school has been headed by Ringier publicist Hannes Britschgi since January 1, 2011 .

Printing houses

The company's core business also includes several printing plants in Switzerland (Zofingen) and abroad. The print shop in Zofingen has existed since it was founded in 1833 and is now integrated into Swissprinters . Ringier Print in Adligenswil has been printing its own and external newspapers since 1975. On November 8, 2017, Ringier announced that it would close Ringier Print at the end of 2018 due to lower prices and declining circulation. The newspapers printed there such as Blick , Blick am Abend , SonntagsBlick , Handelszeitung and Le Temps have been printed by Tamedia since the beginning of 2019 . It had already been announced that the NZZ media group would no longer have the Luzerner Zeitung and its regional editions printed by Ringier Print, but by Tamedia from 2019, which also influenced Ringier's decision. 172 employees are affected.

EqualVoice

On November 25, 2019, the Ringier Group launched the “EqualVoice” initiative. The aim of the Ringier Group's new initiative is to increase the visibility of women in media reporting. Because 75 percent of the media reports are about men, as Ringier writes in a press release. There is already a technical term for this: “Gender Content Gap”. Publisher Michael Ringier and CEO Marc Walder preside over the project, which was initiated by CFO Annabella Bassler. The Advisory Board consists of: Simona Scarpaleggia (Head of "The Future of our Work" Global Initiative INGKA Group ( IKEA )), David Allemann (CEO and Co-Founder On), Nicole Burth (CEO Adecco Switzerland), Ingrid Deltenre (Media Manager and board member), Christiane zu Salm (media entrepreneur and advisor) and Franziska Tschudi Sauber (CEO Weidmann Holding AG), Tanja Grandits (star chef and awarded "Chef of the Year 2019") and Carolina Müller-Möhl (President of the Müller-Möhl Foundation) .

history

Logo above the main entrance of the Ringier press building in Zurich

The history of the family business began in 1833 when Johann Rudolf Ringier acquired a printing company in Zofingen, Switzerland. As a publisher, he published the Zofinger Wochenblatt as his first newspaper. The magazine Schweizer Illustrierte, which is still successful today, was published for the first time in 1911 . Ten years later, the counterpart for French-speaking Switzerland L'illustré was launched. Between 1948 and 1994 Ringier published the comic stories of Ringgi and Zofi . The publisher launched Switzerland's first tabloid with a view in 1959 . The SonntagsBlick was the first Swiss Sunday newspaper to hit the market in 1969. In 1974 Ringier founded the Ringier School of Journalism - also known as "JouSchu" - which is still a unique institution in this form today. In 1977 the Schweizerische Allgemeine Volkszeitung was converted into the GlücksPost . The Ringier press building in Zurich's Seefeld was opened in 1978.

The Swiss Ringier AG bought the Munich Heering publishing house in the 1970s and renamed the new company Ringier Deutschland GmbH. The publisher was mainly active in the photo scene with books and magazines. Ringier Germany recently had almost 100 employees and produced a total of eight monthly magazines plus special issues (including Globo , customer magazine BMW , fotoMagazin ). In 2001 Ringier Deutschland GmbH gave up its business activities. In 2004 Ringier returned to Germany and launched the Cicero magazine from Ringier Publishing GmbH in Berlin .

In 1987 the Times-Ringier printing company was founded and opened in Hong Kong . In 1989 and 1990 activities began in the Czech Republic and Romania . The programs Cash-TV, Spotlights, MotorShow and Health-Consultation-Hour started in 1993, two years before the program PresseTV. In the same year activities began in Bulgaria , Poland , Hungary and Vietnam . Activities in Poland and Bulgaria were discontinued after three years. In 1999 the 50% stake in the television station Sat.1 Switzerland took place .

In 2001, Ringier sold half of the shares in Betty Bossi to the retailer Coop . On May 15, 2006, the company launched Switzerland's first evening newspaper, the free newspaper today . Instead of today , the new free newspaper Blick am Abend appeared on June 2, 2008 . In June 2007 the business newspaper Cash was discontinued after 18 years. On December 21, 2012, Coop took over the remaining 50% of Ringier's shares in Betty Bossi AG.

The former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has been advising the company since January 2006 . The Chairman of the Board of Directors Michael Ringier announced this on November 24, 2005.

Ringier handed over its physical image archive to the Aargau State Archives in 2009 .

Since March 7, 2010, the publications (print and online) of the Blick group ( Blick , Blick am Abend , SonntagsBlick , blick.ch , Blick Apps) have been produced from an integrated newsroom in the press house in Zurich. The newsroom in this form was the first in Switzerland and attracted a great deal of attention in the Swiss media landscape as well as among the public.

In 2011 Ringier started the gradual expansion into the growth markets in Africa and focuses mainly on digital offers on this continent.

At the beginning of 2012, Ringier founded a joint venture with bank zweiplus under the existing umbrella brand cash , which offers online financial and business information, online financial services and online banking. The entire direct customer business of bank zweiplus has been outsourced to this company.

Together with the Zurich publishing house Tamedia , Ringier took over jobs.ch Holding AG from the US subsidiary Tiger Global Management in autumn 2012. In October 2012, the Competition Commission approved the takeover of Switzerland's largest job platform.

In July 2014 Ringier communicated the sale of 49% of the shares in the subsidiary Scout24 Schweiz AG to the American investor KKR. This partnership was unique in the more than 180-year history of Ringier. In spring 2016, Schweizerische Mobiliar took over the shares from KKR and has since held 50% of Scout24 Schweiz AG. Ringier continues to consolidate the company.

Joint venture with Axel Springer in Central Europe

On March 23, 2010, Ringier AG and the German media company Axel Springer AG announced their intention to found a joint holding company based in Zurich, in which both companies each hold 50%, Ringier Axel Springer Media AG. Axel Springer AG made a cash contribution of EUR 50 million into the joint venture and also paid Ringier around EUR 125 million in compensation. These activities of the two groups were bundled in this holding company. Axel Springer AG contributed the business of its subsidiaries in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, Ringier its business in Serbia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The two companies together already have over 100 print titles (34 newspapers, 73 magazines) and over 70 online offers on the market (as of March 2010). The joint venture created one of the largest media companies in Europe, which is the clear market leader for tabloids across the board and one of the largest providers in the magazine segment. The current CEO of the holding company is Mark Dekan. The Chairman of the Board of Directors, which has equal representation, is Ralph Büchi, President of Axel Springer International. In 2002, Axel Springer AG was said to have been interested in buying Ringier AG. On July 1, 2007, Springer acquired the German-language TV program guides TELE , TV4 and TV2 from Ringier through its Swiss subsidiary Jean Frey AG .

Joint venture with Axel Springer in Switzerland

On January 1, 2016, the joint venture with Axel Springer in Switzerland, Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz AG , started its business. The joint venture includes all magazines from both companies in Switzerland as well as the Le Temps and Handelszeitung newspapers . The new joint venture has around 635 employees and a total of 29 products.

Ringier Germany GmbH

On May 1, 2016, Ringier's two quality titles in Germany - Cicero and Monopol - were transferred to the Cicero management team ( Christoph Schwennicke and Alexander Marguier ) as part of a management buyout . Ringier has thus withdrawn from business in Germany.

Admeira

On April 4, 2016, the joint marketing organization of Ringier, Swisscom and SGR began operations under the name Admeira. Marc Walder was one of the initiators of this project launched on August 17, 2015. The project with the intention of being able to keep more digital advertising money in Switzerland had triggered criticism from competitors and only three days after the announcement of the launch, on August 20, 2015, led to Ringier's immediate withdrawal from the Swiss Media Association. On January 8, 2020, it was announced that Ringier had rejoined the Swiss Media Association. On February 13, 2020, Ringier announced that they had bought all of Swisscom's shares in Admeira and are therefore the sole owner of the advertising marketer. SRG had already sold its shares in Ringier and Swisscom in 2018.

Furniture

In February 2020, Mobiliar announced a 25% stake in Ringier.

documentation

  • Christian Kolbe: Traces of Time 175 Years of Ringier - Patriarchs, Press and Profit. In: DOK , Schweizer Fernsehen , May 5, 2008.
  • Alain Jeannet: Nous sommes tous dépassés par les exigences de la numérisation , Marc Walder interview. In: www.hebdo.ch , January 19, 2017.
  • Stéphane Benoit-Godet: Il faut accélérer la digitalisation dans tous les domaines , Marc Walder interview. In: Le Temps, September 30, 2017.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Entry in the commercial register of the Canton of Aargau.
  2. Group Management Ringier AG ( Memento of the original from July 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ringier.com
  3. Annual report 2019 , p. 77 (PDF; 12 MB).
  4. Annual report 2019 , p. 83 (PDF; 12 MB).
  5. 40 years of the Ringier School of Journalism. In: Press release from Ringier AG. December 14, 2014.
  6. Michael Flückiger: Where young journalists get their diamond cut. In: Aargauer Zeitung . January 6, 2015.
  7. 40 years of the Ringier School of Journalism. The largest class reunion in Switzerland. In: look. December 9, 2014.
  8. Hannes Britschgi becomes the new head of the Ringier School of Journalism. In: Press release from Ringier AG. December 14, 2010.
  9. Swissprinters company history .
  10. Official website of Ringier Print Adligenswil LU .
  11. Ringier closes printing works in Adligenswil. In: Tages-Anzeiger . November 8, 2017.
  12. Ringier Group launches the “EqualVoice” initiative: greater visibility of women in media reporting. November 25, 2019, accessed February 10, 2020 .
  13. Annabella Bassler: Interview with the initiator of EqualVoice. Retrieved February 10, 2020 .
  14. ^ Official website of Schweizer Illustrierte .
  15. Creation of the GlücksPost .
  16. ^ «Cicero» - Ringier returns to Germany. In: swissinfo.ch . March 25, 2004.
  17. Edi Estermann: This is how the newsroom works at BLICK. In: look. March 12, 2010.
  18. ^ Beat Gygi: As a Swiss media company in African markets. In: NZZ . 3rd December 2014.
  19. Ringier and bank zweiplus establish joint venture. In: press release from bank zweiplus. July 5, 2011.
  20. Ringier and Tamedia plan to take over jobs.ch - cooperation in international competition. In: Press release from Ringier AG. September 12, 2012.
  21. Ringier and KKR are jointly investing in the growth of Ringier's digital business. In: Press release from Ringier AG. July 14, 2014.
  22. Mobiliar acquires KKR's shares in Scout24 Schweiz AG and becomes a new co-shareholder alongside Ringier AG. In: Press release from Ringier AG. March 30, 2016.
  23. Mark Dekan becomes the new CEO of Ringier Axel Springer Media AG. In: Press release from Ringier Axel Springer Media AG. February 25, 2013.
  24. Axel Springer AG and Ringier AG combine activities in Eastern Europe. In: Axel Springer AG media release. March 23, 2010.
  25. Ringier AG and Axel Springer AG combine activities in Eastern Europe. In: Axel Springer AG media release. March 24, 2010.
  26. Ringier AG and Axel Springer AG bundle activities in Eastern Europe ( Memento of March 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). In: Press release from Ringier AG. March 23, 2010.
  27. Takeover Poker: Springer apparently wants to buy Ringier. In: Spiegel Online . September 19, 2002.
  28. Axel Springer buys Swiss program guides from Ringier. In: Axel Springer AG media release. June 21, 2007.
  29. ↑ Signing of the contract: Ringier and Axel Springer found a joint venture in Switzerland. In: Press release from Ringier AG. 17th September 2015.
  30. Management buy-out of Cicero and Monopol in Germany. In: Press release from Ringier AG. 17th February 2016.
  31. Advertising alliance: The joint venture is called Admeira. In: SRG.D. 17th March 2016.
  32. Innovative advertising offers for Switzerland: Ringier, SRG and Swisscom are bundling the marketing of their advertising services. In: Press release from Ringier AG. 17th August 2015.
  33. Ringier leaves the Swiss Media Association (VSM). In: Press release from Ringier AG. 20th August 2015.
  34. Beat Hürlimann: Digital Alliance: Ringier AG rejoins the Swiss Media Association. In: horizont.net . January 8, 2020, accessed January 12, 2020 .
  35. Ringier takes over Admeira entirely - 25 jobs are lost. Retrieved February 13, 2020 .
  36. Rainer Stadler: SRG cancels TV programs and sells Admeira shares | NZZ . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . ( nzz.ch [accessed on February 13, 2020]).
  37. Why Mobiliar is joining Ringier | NZZ. February 3, 2020, accessed February 3, 2020 .
  38. Traces of Time 175 Years of Ringier - Patriarchs, Press and Profit ( Memento from June 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). In: DOK SF . May 5, 2008.
  39. ^ Alain Jeannet: Nous sommes tous dépassés par les exigences de la numérisation Marc Walder interview. In: www.hebdo.ch , January 19, 2017.
  40. Stéphane Benoit-Godet: Il faut accélérer la digitization dans tous les domaines Marc Walder interview. In: Le Temps, September 30, 2017.
  41. More than a heroic story. In: Blick.ch from May 5, 2019.