Radio Wild West
René Worni on the lack of competition in the radio market.
René Worni on absent competition in the radio marketWhen it comes to placing advertising in the media, things can get complicated. It starts with the fact that the advertising customer or advertiser does not simply go into the store and pay the price printed on the till. As the client, he is overwhelmed with complicated calculations of his benefits. They are spoiled for choice. A nice little online movie? The radio spot in prime time? Some print and a bit of television on top? The calculator on the broker's or agent's desk spins and spits out lengthy additions - discounts, commissions, deadlines, special conditions. Only the initiated can find their way through the jungle of discounts. And rumors are constantly circulating in the industry that customers are being lured by unfair means, that all sorts of things are being slipped under the table to keep them in line. But no one has been able or willing to come clean and put the facts on the table.
This time it's about the radio industry. On the surface, it is not doing so badly. But competition is faltering. The powerful intermediary IP Multimedia has a firm grip on the radio market. Behind closed doors, insiders rumor that IP's pricing policy is eroding the market. But one thing is clear: there is no healthy competition. Radiotele, the former number one among radio marketers, is practically non-existent, and the new Mediasense construct is not getting off the ground. And yet there needs to be healthy competition. Because when 15 radio stations and the SRG subsidiary Publisuisse came together a year ago in the Mediasense construct to jointly market the Swiss Radio Pool, the aim was to expand and strengthen the radio market. At present, however, exactly the opposite is happening. The IP - clearly positioned on the side of the private media - sees Mediasense with its majority owner SRG as a constant annoyance. In the best Wild West style, it is stealing customers from the newcomer. Now Mediasense wants to go over the books and reposition itself. But to do so, SRG would probably have to pull out and leave Mediasense entirely to the private sector. This could perhaps create a market-revitalizing and serious counterforce.
René Worni, Editor
This time it's about the radio industry. On the surface, it is not doing so badly. But competition is faltering. The powerful intermediary IP Multimedia has a firm grip on the radio market. Behind closed doors, insiders rumor that IP's pricing policy is eroding the market. But one thing is clear: there is no healthy competition. Radiotele, the former number one among radio marketers, is practically non-existent, and the new Mediasense construct is not getting off the ground. And yet there needs to be healthy competition. Because when 15 radio stations and the SRG subsidiary Publisuisse came together a year ago in the Mediasense construct to jointly market the Swiss Radio Pool, the aim was to expand and strengthen the radio market. At present, however, exactly the opposite is happening. The IP - clearly positioned on the side of the private media - sees Mediasense with its majority owner SRG as a constant annoyance. In the best Wild West style, it is stealing customers from the newcomer. Now Mediasense wants to go over the books and reposition itself. But to do so, SRG would probably have to pull out and leave Mediasense entirely to the private sector. This could perhaps create a market-revitalizing and serious counterforce.
René Worni, Editor
