It was very successful – that’s why the commuter leaf « 20 minutes » is now at the end

With commuting newspapers you could earn a lot of money in Switzerland. Now the TX Group releases no less than a third of the workforce of “20 minutes”.

The journalists of the “Express” were depressed and ordered large amounts of alcoholic beverages. The editors worked for a newspaper that poured a flaw: it never appeared.

The Zurich media company Tamedia wanted to take part in “20 minutes” in 2003. Four years after the commuting sheet was launched, it became clear that the concept was opened. The Norwegian company Schibsted did not let himself be talked about. So the then Tamedia boss Martin Kall announced that the “Express” would soon be released. Tamedia put together a new editorial team.

That was a threatening gesture. She did not miss her goal. Shortly before the “Express” started, the Norwegian Tamedia granted the start at “20 minutes”. The Zurichers stopped their own project. In 2005, they were completely overall.

Now the company has announced that the printed edition will be discontinued in December 2025. The era of the commuter newspapers comes to an end. There was a time when the country’s public transport was not just about “20 minutes”, but various other free newspapers. The transport companies employed additional cleaning staff to master the flood of paper.

Scandinavians brought concept to Switzerland

The concept came from Sweden. The key point: The costs of a newspaper result from the wages of the journalists, from the pressure and delivery to households. If you now spend much less money on the distribution, you can hand over the product to customers for free.

How do you do it? The sheet is not delivered to households, but is located in newspaper boxes- at train stations, bus and tram stops. Anyone who commutes to work in the morning fish a free leaf out of the box.

“Metro” in Stockholm and Gothenburg was the first commuter newspaper in 1995. The Swedes soon had their sights on the Zurich area for a similar project. In 1999 it only progressed slowly.

Swiss participants say that the two Swedish project managers, two previous Maoists, had made many guidelines. The will to adapt the plan from Sweden Swiss events was only noticeable in the beginning.

The Norwegians from Schibsted went to work differently. They gave the team largely free to the team in Zurich. Financially involved in “20 minutes” was the investor Ernst Müller-Möhl, who in May 2000 in a private plane at the Gotthard massif was fatal.

The return was temporarily over 35 percent

At the end of 1999 there was a race: Which free leaf would be on the market in Switzerland? « 20 minutes » or « Metropol »? The Swedes product was a little different after setting up a brand dispute. Shortly before Christmas, “20 minutes” appeared for the first time. All advertisers were able to place their ads for weeks.

The newspaper boxes at train stations had secured “metropoly”. “20 minutes” reacted immediately and reactivated a profession that no longer existed: that of the newspaper colporter. These are people who put the passers -by newspaper copies on the streets and squares. The leaves were also sometimes distributed in the stains.

« 20 minutes » had the longer breath than « metropoly. » The commuter blade mixed news with social stories and, with his tabloid course, increased Ringier’s “Blick”. And it developed into Tamedia’s gold donkey.

Dozens of millions of francs of profit flushed the company into the cash register annually; The return was temporarily between 35 and 40 percent. “20 minutes” was one of the most profitable daily newspapers in the world. It turned out to be advantageous that the readers – mainly commuters – was younger than the consumers of other leaves.

Success brought new competitors on the scene. They failed how « look in the evening » and « .ch ». The latter noticed with a new delivery: Not newspaper boxes in public transport were intended, but newspaper stands immediately in front of the large houses. The wait, always worried about the order in the settlements, but the stands cleared away in rows – and « .ch » was done.

A look at the smartphone replaces the printed newspaper

Anyone who commutes to work in Switzerland today will no longer see many people on the railway berrons who hold a printed copy of “20 minutes” in their hands. Most commuters look into their smartphones and consume messages. The edition of the free newspaper broke during the Corona pandemic, then easily recovered, but no longer reached the level of previous years.

The online portal of «20 minutes» is the highest range in Switzerland, but is under pressure because the American tech companies such as Apple, Alphabet and META withdraw advertising revenues from the Swiss market. The return drops. The TX Group – formerly Tamedia – now takes a hard cut in the type of house: Not only the printed edition of «20 minutes» is discontinued, the regional editorial offices in Basel, Geneva, Lucerne and St.Gallen are also being stopped.

Only the locations Zurich, Bern and Lausanne remain. The TX Group covers around 80 places. This corresponds to 28 percent of the workforce. The media houses are increasingly using applications of artificial intelligence for news production. Journalists made of flesh and blood are overwhelmed.

It is a weak consolation for the editors who are now being released: they have worked for a press product that, unlike the « Express », was not a phantom, but very successful. After 25 years, the time of the commuter newspapers is over in Switzerland. 2500 newspaper boxes will disappear at the end of the year.