Offensive against TeleZüri
Fernsehen Ringier, Schaffhauser Medien, Südostschweiz and Goldbach Media are sounding the alarm against TeleZüri - with the small station ZüriPlus in the lead.
Fernsehen Ringier, Schaffhauser Medien, Südostschweiz and Goldbach Media are sounding the alarm against TeleZüri - with the small station ZüriPlus in the lead. A future Zurich regional television station with a federal license, performance mandate, fee-splitting share and guaranteed analogue broadcasting should not only cover the canton of Zurich, but also the cantons of Schaffhausen and Glarus. This is the proposal of the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom). TeleZüri has already expressed interest in this area and has held out the prospect of operating a separate program window for each of the additional regions, as requested by Bakom.Daily news from ZüriPlusHowever, the Tamedia station is now facing serious competition from the small Zurich regional TV station ZüriPlus. This can currently only be received in twelve Glattal municipalities and only produces one hour of programming per week. However, its operator, HTV AG, based in Wallisellen, has joined forces with the media companies Ringier, Südostschweiz, Meier + Cie (Schaffhauser Nachrichten) and the TV marketer Goldbach Media and is planning a daily Zurich television channel. The quintet of companies is already in the process of preparing a license application for the new Zurich TV coverage area. This is clear from the statement that HTV has sent to Bakom as part of the consultation on the new TV coverage areas. The letter is accompanied by a statement in which HTV and the TV subsidiaries of the three media companies confirm that they want to establish a joint company in Wallisellen.
It remains to be seen whether they will set up a new company or expand the existing HTV. Goldbach Media, for its part, has declared its interest in marketing the channel. The paper is signed by Fibo Deutsch, Managing Director of Ringier TV, Südostschweiz CEO Hanspeter Lebrument, Norbert Neininger, publisher of Schaffhauser Nachrichten, Goldbach CEO Klaus Kappeler and HTV Managing Director Peter Steinmann.
The latter is the driving force behind the new project, but Lebrument and Neininger are now pulling the Zurich TV rope just as strongly. This is because they have recognized the opportunity of the new project: While ZüriPlus would be responsible for the Zurich program, Lebrument's Tele Südostschweiz (TSO) and Neininger's Schaffhauser Fernsehen (SHTV) could provide the content for the Glarus and Schaffhausen program windows respectively. In short: everyone wants to contribute their strengths. This also applies to Ringier-TV and Goldbach.
ZüriPlus finally goes analogNaturally, the project is also based on financial and strategic considerations: a license would finally give ZüriPlus analogue transmission throughout the canton of Zurich - a right that the broadcaster has long been entitled to based on its previous license, but has been denied by Cablecom. Furthermore, the broadcaster would also receive money from fee splitting.
The situation is different for Neininger: he does not want to give up his SHTV, which will hardly receive any more license fee money in future. However, having a foothold in the Zurich project would not completely dry up the official source of money. It would also allow Neininger to rejoin the national TV advertising market. Lebrument is taking a similar approach: Even if the canton of Glarus were to be knocked away from the TSO area to the Zurich coverage area, it would not lose it completely with its participation in ZüriPlus - it would also gain a direct connection to the economic metropolis. "The Zurich service area is large and densely populated. According to Bakom's plans, however, it would be so large that we simply have to participate," he says.
However, both publishers also feel resentment towards Tamedia. Neininger resents the fact that the Zurich-based group lobbied the Schaffhausen government (in vain) for its own large-scale TeleZüri. "Tamedia never spoke to us, which would have been an option," says Neininger. And Lebrument is annoyed that TeleZüri now claims more than 50 percent of TNC's income from the TV advertising pool TeleNewsCombi (TNC) - because of its reach. The rest has to be distributed among the other TNC members. "Tamedia has never offered its support for a balanced distribution formula," says Lebrument.
Good chances against TeleZüriIn contrast to Lebrument and Neininger, Ringier's interest in ZüriPlus is primarily based on pragmatic reasons: "Our strategy is: We produce for everyone who pays," says Ringier TV Managing Director Fibo Deutsch. With this in mind, Ringier is prepared to support the project. Whether Ringier will also participate in the project one day, however, is not yet certain. "Perhaps we will only be involved as a contractor," says Deutsch.
However, everyone involved is convinced that ZüriPlus can hold its own against TeleZüri and has a good chance of winning a Zurich license. "In terms of quality, we are in no way inferior to TeleZüri, and we also have the regional expertise," says Steinmann. Secondly, his project has a broader base and is therefore more independent. And thirdly, there is no reason why the Uvek should give Tamedia a license with a fee component. "Tamedia has shown that they can do it without," he says. But the race is not yet officially open. First, Bakom and Uvek have to consider the consultation responses and definitively determine the coverage areas. The concession tenders will take place in the summer at the earliest, probably later. Until then, further TV projects are likely to be registered for the Zurich coverage area.
Ringier's déjà vuRingier has been involved in regional TV before
- At TeleZüri: until the beginning of 1999, the Zurich-based group held 33 percent, as did Tamedia and TeleZüri founder Roger Schawinski. But because the latter always retained the majority of votes, the publishers were unable to push through their strategies. This led to a row on the TeleZüri Board of Directors, whereupon Ringier left the board and sold half of its stake to Schawinski and half to Tamedia. Markus Knöpfli
It remains to be seen whether they will set up a new company or expand the existing HTV. Goldbach Media, for its part, has declared its interest in marketing the channel. The paper is signed by Fibo Deutsch, Managing Director of Ringier TV, Südostschweiz CEO Hanspeter Lebrument, Norbert Neininger, publisher of Schaffhauser Nachrichten, Goldbach CEO Klaus Kappeler and HTV Managing Director Peter Steinmann.
The latter is the driving force behind the new project, but Lebrument and Neininger are now pulling the Zurich TV rope just as strongly. This is because they have recognized the opportunity of the new project: While ZüriPlus would be responsible for the Zurich program, Lebrument's Tele Südostschweiz (TSO) and Neininger's Schaffhauser Fernsehen (SHTV) could provide the content for the Glarus and Schaffhausen program windows respectively. In short: everyone wants to contribute their strengths. This also applies to Ringier-TV and Goldbach.
ZüriPlus finally goes analogNaturally, the project is also based on financial and strategic considerations: a license would finally give ZüriPlus analogue transmission throughout the canton of Zurich - a right that the broadcaster has long been entitled to based on its previous license, but has been denied by Cablecom. Furthermore, the broadcaster would also receive money from fee splitting.
The situation is different for Neininger: he does not want to give up his SHTV, which will hardly receive any more license fee money in future. However, having a foothold in the Zurich project would not completely dry up the official source of money. It would also allow Neininger to rejoin the national TV advertising market. Lebrument is taking a similar approach: Even if the canton of Glarus were to be knocked away from the TSO area to the Zurich coverage area, it would not lose it completely with its participation in ZüriPlus - it would also gain a direct connection to the economic metropolis. "The Zurich service area is large and densely populated. According to Bakom's plans, however, it would be so large that we simply have to participate," he says.
However, both publishers also feel resentment towards Tamedia. Neininger resents the fact that the Zurich-based group lobbied the Schaffhausen government (in vain) for its own large-scale TeleZüri. "Tamedia never spoke to us, which would have been an option," says Neininger. And Lebrument is annoyed that TeleZüri now claims more than 50 percent of TNC's income from the TV advertising pool TeleNewsCombi (TNC) - because of its reach. The rest has to be distributed among the other TNC members. "Tamedia has never offered its support for a balanced distribution formula," says Lebrument.
Good chances against TeleZüriIn contrast to Lebrument and Neininger, Ringier's interest in ZüriPlus is primarily based on pragmatic reasons: "Our strategy is: We produce for everyone who pays," says Ringier TV Managing Director Fibo Deutsch. With this in mind, Ringier is prepared to support the project. Whether Ringier will also participate in the project one day, however, is not yet certain. "Perhaps we will only be involved as a contractor," says Deutsch.
However, everyone involved is convinced that ZüriPlus can hold its own against TeleZüri and has a good chance of winning a Zurich license. "In terms of quality, we are in no way inferior to TeleZüri, and we also have the regional expertise," says Steinmann. Secondly, his project has a broader base and is therefore more independent. And thirdly, there is no reason why the Uvek should give Tamedia a license with a fee component. "Tamedia has shown that they can do it without," he says. But the race is not yet officially open. First, Bakom and Uvek have to consider the consultation responses and definitively determine the coverage areas. The concession tenders will take place in the summer at the earliest, probably later. Until then, further TV projects are likely to be registered for the Zurich coverage area.
Ringier's déjà vuRingier has been involved in regional TV before
- At TeleZüri: until the beginning of 1999, the Zurich-based group held 33 percent, as did Tamedia and TeleZüri founder Roger Schawinski. But because the latter always retained the majority of votes, the publishers were unable to push through their strategies. This led to a row on the TeleZüri Board of Directors, whereupon Ringier left the board and sold half of its stake to Schawinski and half to Tamedia. Markus Knöpfli
