Sand in the gears of the P
Radio Marketing: The upcoming debate on the RTVG is throwing a wrench in PubliGroupe and Tamedia’s radio business plans.
Radio Marketing: The upcoming debate on the RTVG is throwing a wrench in PubliGroupe and Tamedia’s radio plans. In search of new, profitable business areas outside the print industry, PubliGroupe wants to enter the radio market. For its part, the media group Tamedia paid a hefty sum for the radio stations 24 and Basilisk and wants to move forward with refinancing. That is why both companies have a strong interest in a stronger radio market. Their common ground is the Goldmedia study on the Swiss radio market (summer 2004), initiated by the Federal Office of Communications. Among other things, the study criticized the radio pool situation, which was primarily driven by (publishing) policy, but noted that further potential existed in and of itself.Regional Radio Stations SidelinedAccording to research by *Werbewoche*, the two players have therefore coordinated the advancement of two parallel projects, both of which could be implemented independently of one another. Belcom CEO Andreas Meili attempted to establish a new type of pool encompassing the centers of Zurich, Basel, Bern—each with two competing radio stations—and include additional stations in the Mittelland, Central, Eastern, and Western Switzerland. Meili, however, left rural radio stations such as Grischa, BeO, Sunshine, as well as Top, Zürisee, Munot, and others out of the picture. In doing so, he separated the urban stations from the smaller rural radio stations. For its part, P worked on establishing a new marketing company, into which it intended to integrate Tamedia, NZZ, and the French radio operator NRJ. An interesting approach: Since publishers had tended to hold back rather than promote their radio stations in the past out of fear for the print business, the largest owners were now to be directly involved in radio marketing. The downside: Concerns began to spread throughout the radio industry about the dictates of the powerful. Neither P nor Tamedia was willing to comment on the status of the projects. Stefan Staub, project manager for electronic media at P, merely noted that on August 25 and 26, P would provide information on the further progress of its radio ideas «in larger meetings with the parties involved» (radio operators and presumably also publishers). Until then, he hopes there will be no further rumors and that the press will hold off on reporting. What he doesn’t say: On August 29, the publicly traded PubliGroupe will publish its half-year results, and on August 31, the
The radio industry is gathering for Radioday. Naturally, any further advance information comes at an inopportune time. The situation is similar at Tamedia, where the release of the half-year results is already scheduled for August 26.
The NZZ is not on board at this point. «One or both projects could be delayed,» Staub cautiously hinted. In doing so, he is anticipating what is already being speculated: Neither project will come to fruition, at least not this year. What is certain is that, despite its close ties to P, the NZZ is not participating in either project for the time being. Beat Lauber, a member of the executive board, commented: «As the projects currently stand, they are still not fully developed. We strongly support the intention to advance the radio market. However, regional circumstances and established structures should also be taken into account. That has not been done sufficiently so far.» Grischa CEO Hanspeter Lebrument also expresses reservations: “I advocate a clear separation between marketers and media owners.” He considers it counterproductive, however, that the projects would mix the two and, moreover, exclude some radio stations.
At Tamedia, too, CEO Martin Kall is said to have reined in Meili’s zeal somewhat. But this may not have happened until Lebrument intervened in his role as president of the Publishers« Association and pointed out the risks for the upcoming RTVG debate in Parliament. Lebrument states emphatically: »At the Publishers’ Association, we have a clear stance: Ultimately, the RTVG should contain as few provisions as possible regarding media concentration. Anything that currently appears to promote concentration jeopardizes this goal.” Not to mention that the projects have the potential to divide the radio and publishing industries. Consequently, P and Tamedia will likely announce a pause for reflection and emphasize that they’ll stay on the ball, but won’t take concrete steps until the RTVG is finalized. Until then, almost everything will remain the same. Only the cracks in the industry that have already come to light will have to be painstakingly patched up again. Take, for example, One Pool, the only radio consortium that was terminated at the end of the year. The reason: The radio stations Argovia and 32 had relied on P and Tamedia. Now they’ve been left out in the cold by them and must figure out for themselves whether—and under what conditions—they can find a new home within a pool.
Markus Knöpfli
The radio industry is gathering for Radioday. Naturally, any further advance information comes at an inopportune time. The situation is similar at Tamedia, where the release of the half-year results is already scheduled for August 26.
The NZZ is not on board at this point. «One or both projects could be delayed,» Staub cautiously hinted. In doing so, he is anticipating what is already being speculated: Neither project will come to fruition, at least not this year. What is certain is that, despite its close ties to P, the NZZ is not participating in either project for the time being. Beat Lauber, a member of the executive board, commented: «As the projects currently stand, they are still not fully developed. We strongly support the intention to advance the radio market. However, regional circumstances and established structures should also be taken into account. That has not been done sufficiently so far.» Grischa CEO Hanspeter Lebrument also expresses reservations: “I advocate a clear separation between marketers and media owners.” He considers it counterproductive, however, that the projects would mix the two and, moreover, exclude some radio stations.
At Tamedia, too, CEO Martin Kall is said to have reined in Meili’s zeal somewhat. But this may not have happened until Lebrument intervened in his role as president of the Publishers« Association and pointed out the risks for the upcoming RTVG debate in Parliament. Lebrument states emphatically: »At the Publishers’ Association, we have a clear stance: Ultimately, the RTVG should contain as few provisions as possible regarding media concentration. Anything that currently appears to promote concentration jeopardizes this goal.” Not to mention that the projects have the potential to divide the radio and publishing industries. Consequently, P and Tamedia will likely announce a pause for reflection and emphasize that they’ll stay on the ball, but won’t take concrete steps until the RTVG is finalized. Until then, almost everything will remain the same. Only the cracks in the industry that have already come to light will have to be painstakingly patched up again. Take, for example, One Pool, the only radio consortium that was terminated at the end of the year. The reason: The radio stations Argovia and 32 had relied on P and Tamedia. Now they’ve been left out in the cold by them and must figure out for themselves whether—and under what conditions—they can find a new home within a pool.
Markus Knöpfli
