The last free Swiss commuter newspaper bids farewell to its print edition

"20 Minuten" celebrates its own farewell to the print edition Keystone-SDA

20 Minutes has bid farewell to its print version on Tuesday with a special edition. The commuter newspaper, which was launched in 1999, will only be published digitally in future.

The blue newspaper boxes were filled for the last time in German-speaking Switzerland, French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino early on Tuesday morning. As a farewell, there was a special edition in which the free newspaper, which belongs to the TX Group, put itself centre stage for once.

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Media Minister Albert Rösti features in an interview about how surprised he was in 1999 when “a newspaper that was easy to read was suddenly available for free”. Readers also learn that although the blue newspaper boxes are disappearing from the streetscape, they will still be on display in at least two museums.

The commuter newspaper shook up the Swiss media landscape at the turn of the millennium and made news available to many people free of charge – years before the media houses reached a large audience via the internet.

Crisp titles, lots of pictures

A broad, reader-oriented selection of topics, short texts and lots of pictures have characterised 20 Minuten/20 Minutes/20 Minuti from the beginning until today.

With its termination the last printed and free Swiss daily newspaper disappears. The competition in the form of Metropol, .CH, Blick am Abend and News came and went quickly. The end of the printed edition also became apparent at 20 Minutes recently due to declining advertising revenue.

In future, the paper wants to concentrate on its digital presence. The revamped app was launched in autumn. According to the press release, “further innovations for our users and for the advertising market” will follow in 2026.

Adapted from German by DeepL/ac

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