Trendy entertainment

Private TV The new private channel 3+ will go on air at the beginning of September with bought-in films and well-known entertainment formats in Swiss dress. 3+ will reinvent private television
not. What works well in the German-speaking world is included in the program. Besides
purchased series and feature films, these are entertainment formats from
of the international TV kitchen, which has been adapted for Switzerland.
become. The two leading minds behind the program planning know,
what they are talking about.

Initiator and managing director Dominik Kaiser knows
as the former head of the Cologne-based music station Viva Plus and independent
producer for Swiss television. Previously he was
Co-owner of a trend agency, published books on youth marketing
and was a board member of the Street Parade association. Also as a music and
He was successful as a film producer ("The Ring Thing"). As program director
Kaiser has appointed the former RTL-2 program director Torsten Prenter
who has a sure instinct for the highly competitive German market and
for audience successes on reality TV and docu-soaps such as "Frauentausch"
set.

Lean structures
3+ will not produce its programs itself. They are produced by
German, but also from domestic production companies.
The collaboration with Constantin Entertainment, for example, is planned,
TresorTV or Ufa, which bring the corresponding know-how from Germany to the
Switzerland. But FaroTV, Ringier-TV and Endemol, which
already active in Switzerland should be given a chance. "As
TV stations, you can choose from the best ideas and the most interesting
budgets," says Kaiser. The consistent outsourcing of the
Production minimizes risk and maintains budgets and structures
lean. With around twenty permanent employees, 3+ aims to
get by without. This is made possible by dispensing with information: the news
will last 60 seconds, supplemented by a 30-second weather spot.

Kaiser believes that the Swiss TV advertising market is large enough for the
station could survive. "If we achieve the advertising revenue that TV
3, we would make a high profit, which we could reinvest in the
program could be reinvested. We have a massively lower
cost structure because we dispense with news and the licensing programs become
prices in line with the market. Year after year, the Swiss look
year more television. People tune in to whatever interests them," says
Kaiser and sees opportunities for his station if he can quickly respond to
respond to the needs of the public.

New forms of advertising
3+ is marketed by Cinecom. The subsidiary of
PubliGroupe also markets Sat 1 Switzerland, among others, and has
therefore experience with sponsoring. "We want to use the legally permitted
advertising opportunities," says Kaiser. The new radio and
Television Act (RTVA), which will come into force in spring 2007, gives
private television, which does not benefit from fee splitting and
is distributed exclusively via cable in Germany, in the European
Comparison of generous framework conditions for advertising.

In Switzerland - in contrast to Germany - product placement is not permitted.
permitted if it is treated like sponsorship and is transparent to the viewer.
is made. An offer for "complete brand integration into the
Cinecom calls this "broadcasting vessels". This means that in the
planned cooking show à la Jamie Oliver only with certain products
is cooked. Kaiser would like to use this form of advertising. As it consists of
Germany, he researches the USA and Asia.
In order to give local creative agencies the impetus to think about
he wants to offer a creative prize.

Target: 3 percent market share
Kaiser does not want to say how high his station's budget is. He
confirms, however, that within the range of speculation
between 15 and 30 million francs. The aim is to
in prime time by the end of 2007 in the advertising-relevant target group of 15 to
to 49-year-olds to achieve a market share of 3 percent. And
The company is expected to be in the black in its third year. One
have deliberately planned conservatively and have sufficient funds to
to survive a three-year dry spell. Although the financing
is secured, Kaiser does not name any investors. The financial backers are still
all from Switzerland except for one German TV producer and it was
are not media companies.     

"Einschweizern" is the name of the recipe
"We will program complementary to the existing channels. To the
example, we show a blockbuster film when no other program is available.
shows a feature film of a similarly high quality," says Managing Director
Dominik Kaiser. Monday and Saturday evenings thus become movie nights,
Tuesday is dedicated to entertainment, Thursday to crime thrillers.
On Sunday evenings, 3+ shows documentaries. And on Wednesday evenings
a series and from 9 p.m. those films that are aimed at very young viewers.
are less suitable. Feature films that have already been purchased include
"Spiderman II", "Alexander" or "Seven". Over several large
series packages are still being negotiated, says Kaiser, who is therefore still
does not want to name any titles.

3+ wants to set itself apart from the German competition with Swiss-German
entertainment. There will be four to five programs per week
give. "Swissization" of successful international formats is the
Magic word. A local "super nanny" is brought into the
suburban cottages, the search for "Switzerland's next
supermodel", and also the search for future supermodels.
Popstars is not missing. Instead of individual stars, a duo and a little more
In this case, reality TV is the recipe for distancing oneself from the status quo.
differentiate. For the ten episodes of this casting show, one million
francs were budgeted.

In a second step, 3+ will then become a trendsetter. The aim is
be the first broadcaster to produce a successful international format in its own
reception area. Kaiser also wants to maintain this position in purchasing
US series. A time advantage over the
German television market, for example, broadcasting could not be
dubbed original versions with subtitles.

Adrian Scherrer