Company

The history of Ringier Hungary

Ringier Publishing, as one of the leading newspaper and magazine publishing companies in Hungary, has been present on the Hungarian market since 1993. It publishes one of the most widely read dailies in Hungary, namely Blikk, as well as the only sports daily published in Hungary, Nemzeti Sport. In addition, the company’s portfolio also includes a range of magazines (Tina, Blikk Nők, Képes Sport, IM, Bravo, Bravo Girl!, Buci Maci), books, and Internet websites (blikk.hu, nemzetisport.hu, im-net.hu, bravo.hu, bravogirl.hu).Ringier is majority stakeholder (holding 67.7% of shares) of Népszabadság since 2005.

1993
Establishment of Ringier Publishing Ltd. The publishing company launched activities by publishing the business weekly KÁPÉ, which is an adaptation of the Swiss weekly CASH.

1994 BLIKK begins its road to success in Hungary, which is the Hungarian twin version of a classical product.

1995-96
Blikk introduces the BINGO games, and sales figures exceed all expectations.

1998
Following the Swiss model, the 64-page Sunday edition of Blikk, namely VASÁRNAPI BLIKK is introduced on the market. 1999
Ringier Publishing takes over Nemzeti Sport, the most significant and only sports daily of the country.

2000
The publishing company records exceptional results at the end of the millennium, and the thematic magazines, and the book on Sydney also contributed to achieving this. The Swiss parent company takes over Magyar Hírlap Ltd. at the end of the year, which transaction includes the takeover of Magyar Hírlap and Mai Nap.2001 The publishing company combines the two tabloids Blikk and Mai Nap, and instead publishes these as a single daily; the company consequently breaks all previous records, and is ranked as the most widely read daily by the end of the year. A new profile is created for Nemzeti Sport, and is published in colour and with an additional 10 independent magazines. Magyar Hírlap is published in a modern page layout by the end of the year, and an independent and strong financial section is included in the paper. The publishing company launches the new product TELESZUPER, which is distributed as a TV supplement of both Blikk and Magyar Hírlap.

2002
Ringier becomes the biggest publishing company of dailies in Hungary by acquiring 49,6% of the company stakes of Népszabadság Rt. In addition to the on-going development of Nemzeti Sport, the publishing company strengthened its sports magazine activities by acquiring SPORTFOGADÁS copyright. The publishing company jointly publishes the on-line versions of Nemzeti Sport and Magyar Hírlap.

2003
The publishing company launches a new business branch by establishing the Magazine division, which is the joint subsidiary of the company Heinrich Bauer Verlag. The magazines Bravo, Bravo Girl, Tina and Buci Maci are published first, and Képes Sport is launched once again after 11 years. The number of Blikk editions published continuously exceeds a rate of 250 000, and Blikk.hu is introduced in August. Nemzeti Sport turns 100, and is a newspaper that stands for tradition and modernity at the same time.

2004 is a year of sports, and therefore Nemzeti Sport appears amongst readers and sports lovers at a variety of venues. The magazine range is extended once again, since IM is included in the portfolio from March on, and consequently, the publishing company covers 70% of the youth magazine market.   Ringier prints Nemzeti Sport in the printing premises set up by company from October 25 on. Ringier closes Magyar Hírlap on 5 November, and sells the daily to the publishing company established by the journalists of Magyar Hírlap twenty days later.The publishing company starts publishing Mai Nap once again. The new Blikk TV Magazine is issued from February on every Saturday in Blikk.

2005
Ringier introduces a new magazine on the women’s magazine market, namely Blikk Nők. Our youth magazine profile Teen Network breaks sales records in the first half of the year. IM sales figures increase by 14%, whilst BRAVO Girl! Sales figures increase by a rate of 17%. A new member is included in the Ringier newspaper range, pursuant to the decision of the Competition Council declaring that Ringier is entitled to validate its eligibility to control Népszabadság, and officially becomes the 67.7% stakeholder of the newspaper.

2006
We have also been printing Népszabadság in the Ringier Press since 1 January 2006. 
Ringier has launched its new star magazine hot!. Ringier Publishing acquired an 8% share of advertising revenue generated in 2006 on the printed media market. Népszabadság book sales increased by a rate of 272% in relation to sales figures for the previous year.  -

2007
The Ringier Népszabadság Print Awards (RNPA) was presented for the very first time in January 2007.
Nemzeti Sport, Hungary’s only sports daily that has been published for over 104 years was re-launched on 25 February 2007 and distributed to retail outlets with this new profile. Concurrently to the printed issue, the new design for www.nemzetisport.hu was also developed and new contents are now featured on the website.