It should be the media portal of the future. Now there is clear-cutting.
“Sales development is declining and we see no way of operating the Today portals in a cost-covering manner in the foreseeable future,” says “CH Media” CEO Michael Wanner.
Christian Beutler / Keystone
The media company “CH Media” is discontinuing all Today platforms with immediate effect, the media company announced this on Tuesday morning. 34 employees lose their jobs, 22 of whom are offered follow-up solutions.
The news portals were no longer accessible online on Tuesday morning. Instead, users were redirected to Watson.ch and informed about the closure.
The employees of “CH Media” were informed on Tuesday morning and termination discussions should also take place on Tuesday. The consultation process has been completed, writes the company. A social plan is applied for the terminated employees. The “CH Media Academy” volunteers, who should have completed part of their training at the Today portals, are exempt from the workforce reduction.
Headquarters of the Today platforms only launched two years ago
“CH Media” launched the Today platforms in 2015 with the Eastern Swiss portal FM1today. This was followed within five years by six further platforms in Zurich, Aargau, St. Gallen, Central Switzerland, Bern and Solothurn.
It was not until 2022 that “CH Media” opened the “Züri Today” portal and set up a central region in Zurich that supplied all “Today” portals. 15 positions were created for this purpose.
The Today portals were intended to appeal to a young target group and become the interface for the radio and television channels of “CH Media”. The portals were financed exclusively through advertising. This strategy does not seem to have worked: “Sales development is declining and we see no way of operating the Today portals in a cost-covering manner in the foreseeable future,” CH Media CEO Michael Wanner is quoted as saying in a company statement.
Third round of savings within four years
“CH Media” announced drastic cuts last fall. The company, which has around 2,000 employees, cut 140 full-time positions, some of which were on the “Today” platforms. Some of these had only been launched shortly beforehand.
When the “Today” platforms were opened, they got off to a good start, said Florian Wanner, head of regional electronic media. The recent slump in the advertising market was not expected, said Wanner at the beginning of this year. CH Media previously cut jobs in 2020, at which time the company management justified the step, among other things, with sales losses due to the corona pandemic.
