XTRA
Xtra ( spelling : XTRA ) was a daily newspaper of the M. DuMont Schauberg group of companies that appeared between October 2014 and March 2015 and was continued as a weekly supplement until July 2015 and then discontinued. It was aimed at young people and was distributed free of charge for the duration of its publication.
The first edition of the newspaper appeared on October 23, 2014 with a circulation of 40,000 copies. Awarded a price of € 0.50 and initially also available at the kiosk , it was distributed free of charge from the start and displayed in newspaper boxes in the city. The target group were young people between 19 and 39 years of age. The 28-page sheet was published Monday through Friday at 3:30 p.m. It was created by an editorial team initially under the direction of Christian Lorenz, later Corinna Kuhs with volunteers and freelancers , connected to the editorial staff of the Express newspaper .
The launch of the new newspaper, declared by the publisher as a project with accompanying market research, was intended to reach the target group with topics such as mobility, sport, digital and leisure and to inspire them for printed newspapers. The implementation was accompanied rather critically by the professional world, as Marvin Schade from meedia.de remarked : "It is difficult to imagine that young people run to the colorful newspaper boxes instead of reaching for their smartphones in their pockets".
Indeed, the response to the paper in March 2015 led to a reduction in distribution to a weekly format as a supplement. This was also discontinued in July 2015, whereupon XTRA should continue to operate as a “mobile event platform and app”. This online offer was also discontinued at the end of 2015, individual elements of XTRA should still be included in the Express newspaper. Most recently, on meedia.de, Georg Altrogge attested the publisher a “failed experiment” that was denied “access to a target group that had become alien and thus to the future”.
Individual evidence
- ↑ ZDB -ID 2797609-9
- ↑ a b "Xtra": DuMont starts new daily newspaper in Cologne . In: HORIZONT . ( horizont.net [accessed July 22, 2017]).
- ↑ a b Cologne's new, young daily newspaper XTRA: colorful, full, but not youthful ›Meedia. October 24, 2014, accessed July 22, 2017 .
- ↑ M. DuMont Schauberg: "Xtra" fails as a daily newspaper / brand becomes digital "event platform" and free newspaper . In: HORIZONT . ( horizont.net [accessed July 22, 2017]).
- ↑ Creeping departure? DuMont also abolishes the weekly print edition of XTRA ›Meedia. July 27, 2015, accessed July 22, 2017 .
- ↑ Georg Altrogge: Out for LesMads and Xtra: What publishers can learn from failure ›Meedia. December 30, 2015, accessed July 22, 2017 .