The premium paper

Not much is written about it, but the Czech newspaper market is feeling the pinch. Even MF Dnes is laying off staff, people say, while others think the real goal of HN's colorful redesign was to cut costs. Amid this, Mafra brought in Dalibor Balšínek to squeeze profit out of LN. He made his name by turning around Týden magazine. To succeed at LN, he'll need to redraw the media map. Ringier controls the tabloids, MFD is the catch-all semi-serious paper, HN is fending off E15 for business readers, and Deník is strong in the regions. Právo, on the left, is the most vulnerable of the majors. A well-done liberal paper with deep pockets might be able to bury it. But Balšínek says he could never attach his name to a leftist rag. Instead, he wants LN to be a premium (center-right) paper. It will be a long slog, but a sizeable number of under-served "premium" readers will be hoping he can succeed this time too. [Czech Republic Hospodářské noviny Lidové noviny]