Telebasel: New boss appointed and expansion initiated

 
Telebasel, the regional television station for north-western Switzerland, is appointing 32-year-old Dominik Prétôt from Basel as its new managing director as of April 1, 2008. Together with the expansion process that began in October 2007, the station wants to prepare itself for operation with a license. Telebasel is the only broadcaster to have applied for a TV license for north-western Switzerland (see: )
Prétòt has been a regular recording manager for various programs at Telebasel since 2002. He worked as a cinema operator at East Cinémas and for Helvetia Versicherungen, Messe Schweiz (Art Basel) and the Baselland Chamber of Commerce. His predecessor Willy Surbeck will concentrate on journalistic matters, according to the press release issued on Sunday.
The strengthening of the management team also takes place in view of the separation of programming and advertising prescribed by the Federal Council. While Pia Bossert, who has been Head of Finance for many years, is retiring, Diana Bevilacqua will join the management team for sponsorship and marketing and Linus Pauls for in-house production.
For the expansion of the program, as described in the license application, 18 additional 100 percent positions for program creators are required. Telebasel currently employs 73 people, almost half of them full-time. The necessary expansion already began in October 2007 with the move to a larger studio.
In the application to the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom) for a TV license in Northwestern Switzerland, a full program of two hours per day from Monday to Friday from 6 p.m. was announced. Every Saturday, a regional live recording from the fields of music, theater, cabaret or gala events is broadcast. The principle of continuous repeats will be abolished. However, the 7vor7 program will remain in the program in the proven hourly loop from 8.00 pm.