"No one has to suffer from TF1"
Swiss advertising clients are happy about the additional TV advertising window in French-speaking Switzerland on TF1, which will start on September 5. This is because they need more TV advertising time and are hoping for higher rates.
"The demand for TV advertising time in French-speaking Switzerland is already greater than the supply. The SWA therefore welcomes TF1's plan to launch an additional TV advertising window for French-speaking Switzerland in the fall," says Jürg Siegrist, Director of the Swiss Advertisers Association (SWA). Siegrist also sees it as "positive" that Ringier is a new TV marketer on the scene. No wonder, because last year the SWA and some of its members did not exactly welcome Goldbach Media as the sole private TV marketer in Switzerland. Siegrist also has high hopes for the newcomer Ringier: "Ringier has certainly prepared itself well. After all, they won the TF1 battle against Goldbach Media."
Siegrist is not prepared to make any predictions about which media in French-speaking Switzerland will have to cede advertising revenue to TF1 from next year. However, he does not share the concerns of publishers in French-speaking Switzerland, who fear that the press in French-speaking Switzerland in particular will suffer. "The media mix will change and there will be winners and losers, but I question whether anyone will suffer under TF1," he says. "If only because TV revenues will continue to rise anyway."
However, the SWA director assumes that the TF1 offer will lead to "healthy competition in TV spot prices", i.e. that TF1 will allow TV rates to fall or at least keep them stable. "However, we do not yet know TF1's pricing structure," Siegrist qualifies. (Markus Knöpfli)
