Where is the local content?
TV Vaud-Fribourg will become Switzerland's second-largest private television station. The station is owned by the city of Lausanne and a number of other municipalities in the canton of Vaud.
TV Vaud-Fribourg TV is set to become Switzerland’s second-largest private television station. The future regional television station for the cantons of Vaud and Fribourg is taking shape. A project group is bidding for what is, in terms of area and population, the most significant license in French-speaking Switzerland. The group includes the publishing houses Edipresse and Saint-Paul—the publisher of the Fribourg newspaper *La Liberté*—as well as a number of municipalities in Vaud.Just a few weeks ago, interested circles were saying that OFCOM’s proposal for a joint TV broadcast area covering the cantons of Vaud and Fribourg was absurd. Neither in the canton of Vaud nor in the French-speaking part of the canton of Fribourg could anyone imagine creating a television station for two such different regions. And so the criticism went: the connection to local communities would fall by the wayside, the cross-cantonal broadcast area would make it harder to attract advertisers, the interests and independence of the Fribourg region would be sacrificed, and the influence of the major publisher Edipresse—which even owns the advertising agency and thus the «nerf de la guerre»—would be too strong.
Bakom turned a deaf ear to the criticism and confirmed the Vaud-Fribourg broadcast area, which ranks second only to the Zurich broadcast area in terms of size and population density: 40 percent of the population of French-speaking Switzerland are potential viewers of Vaud-Fribourg TV. With 3.2 million Swiss francs—that is, the lion’s share of the license fee fund—the Federal Office intends to take into account the size of the broadcast area and the challenges posed by the fact that there is currently no local broadcaster operating in the canton of Fribourg and that the infrastructure must be built from scratch.
The “manna” from Bern helped melt away resistance, as did the work of a pilot group that refined the project’s content in such a way that fears of losing local content and regional independence have diminished. Accordingly, the television service will be led by an editor-in-chief in Lausanne and one deputy editor-in-chief each in Lausanne and Fribourg. Regional television teams will be based in Lausanne, Yverdon, Vevey, and Fribourg. For the French-speaking part of the canton of Fribourg, a special 15-minute news segment is planned, to be produced by the Fribourg editorial team at the local School of Applied Arts (Emaf).
Is that enough to guarantee equality between the partners? «Yes and no,» says Alfred Noth. As the publisher of La Liberté—one of the last independent regional newspapers—he thought long and hard about whether to join forces with competitor Edipresse on a joint project. Noth still sees a few contentious issues that need to be «nailed down»: He mentions representation on the operational management team and the right to review matters concerning Fribourg. These points will be on the agenda for the next meetings in November. «At the moment, the finances and structures have been clarified; everything else is still to come,» says Noth. However, he is confident that the project is on the right track.
Television as a Model: Vaud-Fribourg TV Could Indeed Become an Interesting Model. This is because the local station TVRL (Télévision de la Région Lausannoise)—which, as the largest existing local television station in Vaud, is at the heart of the project—is not owned by a regional broadcaster, but rather by the city of Lausanne and a number of other municipalities in Vaud. And according to Mayor Daniel Brélaz, the City of Lausanne intends to fulfill its «historical responsibility» as the founder of TVRL: The city executive has decided to contribute 1.2 million Swiss francs and acquire a 21.08 percent stake in the share capital of Vaud-Fribourg TV (see box). It hopes to be able to acquire additional shares worth up to 600,000 francs should other partners withdraw. Unlike the City of Geneva’s stake in the Geneva-based broadcaster Léman bleu, however, the City of Lausanne’s strong financial commitment does not pose a problem: In Geneva, the Federal Office of Communications (BAKOM) had rejected a majority stake by the city in Léman bleu’s share capital. In contrast, in Lausanne, the public sector holds a majority stake only in one of the project’s partners, namely TVRL.
Through its efforts, the city of Lausanne aims to ensure that local news programs do not fall by the wayside and that the criteria of objectivity and public service are met. «We want to guarantee continuity and prevent the content from becoming trivialized,» said Brélaz. The OFCOM mandate is apparently not enough for the «Green Giant of Lausanne» to guarantee that the station’s substance won’t be eroded. «We don’t want a station that airs music videos all day long and a pale imitation of TSR News in the evening,» says Daniel Brélaz.
Hélén Brügger
Seven Partners at the Future Vaud-Fribourg TV Station
(6.4 million Swiss francs in share capital) currently has seven partners, who provisionally divide the share capital among themselves as follows:– TVRL: 30.3 percent
– Edipresse Publishing: 30.3 percent
– the Fribourg-based publisher Saint-Paul and the local radio station Radio Fribourg: 15.6 percent
– the local station Ici TV in Vevey: 10.9 percent
– the local station Canal Nord Vaudois in Yverdon: 10.9 percent
– the local station Val TV in the Vallée de Joux: 1.9 percent
The local station Max TV in Morges has decided to invest in the project; the amount of the investment has yet to be determined. A local station in the Nyon area has withdrawn from the project. (hb)
Bakom turned a deaf ear to the criticism and confirmed the Vaud-Fribourg broadcast area, which ranks second only to the Zurich broadcast area in terms of size and population density: 40 percent of the population of French-speaking Switzerland are potential viewers of Vaud-Fribourg TV. With 3.2 million Swiss francs—that is, the lion’s share of the license fee fund—the Federal Office intends to take into account the size of the broadcast area and the challenges posed by the fact that there is currently no local broadcaster operating in the canton of Fribourg and that the infrastructure must be built from scratch.
The “manna” from Bern helped melt away resistance, as did the work of a pilot group that refined the project’s content in such a way that fears of losing local content and regional independence have diminished. Accordingly, the television service will be led by an editor-in-chief in Lausanne and one deputy editor-in-chief each in Lausanne and Fribourg. Regional television teams will be based in Lausanne, Yverdon, Vevey, and Fribourg. For the French-speaking part of the canton of Fribourg, a special 15-minute news segment is planned, to be produced by the Fribourg editorial team at the local School of Applied Arts (Emaf).
Is that enough to guarantee equality between the partners? «Yes and no,» says Alfred Noth. As the publisher of La Liberté—one of the last independent regional newspapers—he thought long and hard about whether to join forces with competitor Edipresse on a joint project. Noth still sees a few contentious issues that need to be «nailed down»: He mentions representation on the operational management team and the right to review matters concerning Fribourg. These points will be on the agenda for the next meetings in November. «At the moment, the finances and structures have been clarified; everything else is still to come,» says Noth. However, he is confident that the project is on the right track.
Television as a Model: Vaud-Fribourg TV Could Indeed Become an Interesting Model. This is because the local station TVRL (Télévision de la Région Lausannoise)—which, as the largest existing local television station in Vaud, is at the heart of the project—is not owned by a regional broadcaster, but rather by the city of Lausanne and a number of other municipalities in Vaud. And according to Mayor Daniel Brélaz, the City of Lausanne intends to fulfill its «historical responsibility» as the founder of TVRL: The city executive has decided to contribute 1.2 million Swiss francs and acquire a 21.08 percent stake in the share capital of Vaud-Fribourg TV (see box). It hopes to be able to acquire additional shares worth up to 600,000 francs should other partners withdraw. Unlike the City of Geneva’s stake in the Geneva-based broadcaster Léman bleu, however, the City of Lausanne’s strong financial commitment does not pose a problem: In Geneva, the Federal Office of Communications (BAKOM) had rejected a majority stake by the city in Léman bleu’s share capital. In contrast, in Lausanne, the public sector holds a majority stake only in one of the project’s partners, namely TVRL.
Through its efforts, the city of Lausanne aims to ensure that local news programs do not fall by the wayside and that the criteria of objectivity and public service are met. «We want to guarantee continuity and prevent the content from becoming trivialized,» said Brélaz. The OFCOM mandate is apparently not enough for the «Green Giant of Lausanne» to guarantee that the station’s substance won’t be eroded. «We don’t want a station that airs music videos all day long and a pale imitation of TSR News in the evening,» says Daniel Brélaz.
Hélén Brügger
Seven Partners at the Future Vaud-Fribourg TV Station
(6.4 million Swiss francs in share capital) currently has seven partners, who provisionally divide the share capital among themselves as follows:– TVRL: 30.3 percent
– Edipresse Publishing: 30.3 percent
– the Fribourg-based publisher Saint-Paul and the local radio station Radio Fribourg: 15.6 percent
– the local station Ici TV in Vevey: 10.9 percent
– the local station Canal Nord Vaudois in Yverdon: 10.9 percent
– the local station Val TV in the Vallée de Joux: 1.9 percent
The local station Max TV in Morges has decided to invest in the project; the amount of the investment has yet to be determined. A local station in the Nyon area has withdrawn from the project. (hb)
