"The day started badly, but we are pleased that the weather has turned for the better," said Jakob Passweg, President of the Swiss Cancer League, as he pedaled for the second time towards Motto Bartola, the intermediate stage on the way to the top of the pass. Markus Aerni, project manager of the event, had only opened the route up to this point in the morning because thunderstorms and snowfall made it impossible to ride up the old Tremola to the Gotthard without risk. "The safety and health of all participants comes first," said Aerni. This did not dampen the mood on site, as the organizers write in a press release.

The sun broke through the clouds as early as midday. The 160 riders were now able to enjoy all the steep hairpin bends up the mountain to 2,100 meters above sea level. Instead of rain, sweat was now dripping. At the time, most of the riders could not yet estimate how many times they would conquer the arduous route over the old pass road in solidarity with cancer patients. As often as possible was a matter of honor for everyone.

Heinz Frei and Ariella Kaeslin encourage those affected

Prominent Swiss people also got involved in the fight against cancer and encouraged those affected with their performance. "I went up twice despite the not so nice weather. After all, it's for a good cause. A commitment that is worthwhile," says Ariella Kaeslin. Heinz Frei, Disabled Sportsman of the Year 2009: "It's an event that should be fun and, above all, bring people together. Sport is only one part of the whole, the other part is just as important".

Hikers are also "On the road against cancer"

A sign of solidarity was set not only on bicycles, but also on foot. Around 60 people affected by cancer, their relatives and friends as well as other committed men and women set off to enjoy the ascent together on the old mule track along the Tremola. Among them was leader Corinne Grossele Gerber, with 20 people from her Affoltern a.A. cancer sports group: "We are delighted about this event and are happy to take part in this challenge. We hike as long as we feel like it and as far as we can".

All those who were not born with green fingers can breathe a sigh of relief: rescue is at hand in the form of the USB flower pot. This is connected to a computer via USB and indicates when the plant needs some water or sun. If you want to record your exciting experiences with the intelligent pot for posterity, simply use the diary function, which is automatically installed with the software. Wonderful - a plant Tamagotchi, so to speak. Why not, it certainly looks good in the office - alongside the USB fan, the USB cup warmer and all the other fun things you can do with it. You can buy the thing here. Available for immediate delivery and over 100 in stock.

We wish our readers a good start to the new week!

WW: AZ Medien now owns three regional TV stations with which it covers a large, contiguous area of German-speaking Switzerland and which it links into a network by means of a master program. Doesn't this take the originally federalist local TV concept in the RTVA ad absurdum?

Doris Leuthard: No, as I understand it, all three local TV stations will remain alive - with the independence that goes with them and with the staff, many of whom will be taken on. In this respect, only the ownership is changing. This corresponds to a concentration movement that we generally see in large publishing houses that are involved in print, radio and TV. And if the independence of the editorial teams remains guaranteed, diversity is also maintained for consumers, who today have a wide range of information media at their disposal.

Local radio stations are also increasingly breaking down their regional boundaries by becoming regional language stations via DAB+. This is also a contradiction to the RTVA.

No. Today, local radio stations have a journalistic mandate for which they receive compensation. They receive this for regional news, not for national information. If they now extend their service geographically, this does not contradict this. What's more, as someone from Aargau, for example, I'm happy to be able to listen to information from my local Aargau radio station in Bern, where I spend most of the week. I therefore think that the expansion via DAB+ meets a certain customer demand. That's why it doesn't seem to me to contradict the RTVA.

Given the two developments in local radio and regional TV mentioned above, is an early revision of the RTVA not advisable after all?

In the case of DAB+, we will first see how many actually enter this market. I don't believe that the state needs to anticipate something that doesn't actually exist yet and is only being considered. We can then see in four to five years' time where we actually stand.

Still on the subject of SRG's Internet advertising: In your opinion, by when should a solution be found between SRG and publishers?

As we have already announced several times, SRG and publishers have a time window until the end of the year for their discussions on possible cooperation models.

Interview: Markus Knöpfli

The half-year statistics published by Media Focus on Friday show that all online advertising formats except traditional online advertising are on the rise. Search engine advertising in particular is on the rise. Based on developments in the first half of the year, the market researchers forecast a 22 percent increase in this form of advertising for 2011 as a whole, which would leave it only slightly behind the current frontrunner, traditional online advertising. This deals with the sale of banner space or containers with multimedia content such as audio or video inserts. In 2010, 158.9 million Swiss francs in advertising were turned over in this area, 33.9 million Swiss francs more than search engine advertising.

> Detailed half-year statistics (PDF)
 

The musical scene is booming in Switzerland and singing its way from one peak to the next. The highest peak of the development so far is now to be reached in the coming winter. On February 17, 2012 "Alpine Rose" will celebrate its premiere at the BernExpo Musical Theater. "The musical with the songs of Polo Hofer", is the subtitle. What seems a bit confusing for friends of Bernese rock at first reading - Polo and musical - sounds quite promising on second hearing.

A group of around 60 media representatives were able to see this for themselves on Thursday. They were transported to Mount Pilatus by Heier Lämmler's PR consultancy ProMotion in beautiful summer weather. Did they get a bit lost in the geography under the influence of the 30 degrees in the shade? No. Pilatus, and with it its Pilatus Bahnen, are now part of the musical's close-knit group of sponsors. "Pilatus is becoming the home mountain of Alperose," André Zimmermann, director of Pilatus Bahnen, was pleased to say - because: "Where in Switzerland is there a more beautiful Alpine panorama to admire?"

In fact, the duration of a journey from Bern to the top of Mount Pilatus is no longer than from Bern to Grindelwald - and with particularly good eyes, you can "almost see" the Musical Theater in Bern from the top of the Donkey, the busy marketing specialists from the Lucerne mountain explained their commitment. They snatched this away from the Bernese Alps in a kind of "pitch". As a first promotional action, Polo Hofer christened a railcar of the world's steepest rack railroad "Alperose" on Thursday.

Another apparent "foreign body" among the sponsors of the "Alperose" project is Turkey Tourism. Here, too, no one on the team has inhaled one joint too many. The libretto for the musical is about characters who oscillate back and forth between "wanderlust and homesickness," as author Walter Hitz explains. From Bern's point of view, Istanbul is ideal as a symbolic city for such wanderlust.

Turkey as a sponsor will be present in the musical theater with a large Turkish restaurant. This will stand next to a "Caribbean bar" and its veritable jungle. Likewise, there is an artificial alpine landscape with lake and "alpine hut", where the appropriate gastronomic offers will be served by the main sponsor Migros.

The Viennese stage designer Conny Kraus, who has experience with many large-scale productions, has designed an "all-round" stage and scenery concept, which is intended to guarantee the audience "an evening-filling all-round experience" two hours before the start of the show, as producer Daniel Greber presented the first drafts at the media conference on Mount Pilatus.

And the sound? The original backing band of Polo Hofer could be engaged as live musicians on stage. But since the songs are not interpreted by Polo himself, but also by female voices such as Eveline Suter as Lorraine or Rahel Fischer as "flotti Lotti" as part of the stage plot, musical director Steff Mens had to transpose most of the songs into a different vocal range. "Doesn't sound bad," said musical absentee Polo Hofer, when he saw and heard the two blond rocker brides on the Pilatus. And there is still almost half a year open for further rehearsals and developments.

Andreas Panzeri

Polo Hofer halfway up the climb to Mount Pilatus, with the two
Lead actresses Eveline Suter and Rahel Fischer (r.).

Polo Hofer christens a railcar of the Pilatus Railway the name of
"Alperose.

(Images: Swiss Image)
 

Second place went to "Salty Times" by Stefan Eichenberger, while third place went to "Home Sweet Hotel" by Alfonso Gordillo. The audience award went to Alejandro Gasser Daza with "Stille Post". The short film competition for the Swiss hotel industry was initiated by Hotelleriesuisse and took place for the second time after the first edition in 2009.

Ten of the 20 nominated films were screened at the awards ceremony, including the winners of the first, second and third prizes and the Audience Award. The expert jury was made up of Fulvio Bernasconi (director), Jacques Bettex (Best Western Eurotel Riviera, Montreux), Sabine Boss (director), Philippe Clivaz (Visions du Réel), Madeleine Hirsiger (film editor) and Philipp Roggensinger (Dasbreitehotel). The jury was chaired by film editor Mohan Mani. The star guest of the evening was actor Anatole Taubmann, who gave the audience an insight into his film career. Model Xenia Tchoumitcheva talked about her experiences with hotels. She played the leading role in this year's Call for entry film. The evening was hosted by Sven Epiney.

> To the winning film "Monsieur Du Lit" by Timo von Gunten

> To the second-placed film "Salty Times" by Stefan Eichenberger

> To the third-placed film "Home Sweet Hotel" by Alfonso Gordillo

> About the film "Stille Post" by Alejandro Gasser Daza (Audience Award)

 

Nestlé has given Nescafé Gold a facelift. The elegant new packaging is not only visually appealing, according to a press release: an audibly tight-closing click lid also ensures that the now even fuller flavor is perfectly preserved. To give the redesign the attention it deserves, the advertising agency Publicis has created a poster campaign. Three-dimensional headlines proclaim that the original is now even more aromatic and continues to set the standard for instant coffee.

According to the press release, the posters hanging throughout Switzerland, particularly in the vicinity of Coop and Migros stores, are just a small foretaste of the new advertising campaign for Nescafé Gold that has been announced for late fall.

Responsible at Nestlé: Peter Hatzfeld (Marketing Manager Soluble Beverages and Ambient Dairy), Florian Schmied and Stephanie Nägeli (Marketing Nescafé). Responsible at Publicis: Sacha Moser (CD), Nicolas Vontobel (AD), Jan Krohn (text), Mischa Müller (graphics), Kristijan Sessa (3D), Muriel Asté, Christine Rainford and Olivier Pasche (consulting).

According to the press release, the exhibition will focus on a range of the latest generation of two- and four-wheeled electric vehicles, which visitors to Shoppi Tivoli will be able to try out on a test track. In addition, the history of electric cars will be presented and first-generation vehicles can be viewed.

Evoq designed the event presentation and the exhibition on the history of electric vehicles, launched a competition, labeled the charging stations for the electric vehicles and designed the general communication for the event.

 

The talk will be hosted by Kaspar Loeb. The poster for the event was created by the agency Advico Young & Rubicam:

> IAA Talk: "From election campaign to election frenzy" with Anita Fetz, Claude Longchamp, Mark Balsiger and Alexander Segert
 

Swiss animated film is in the most productive, ambitious and successful phase of its history, according to a press release from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Never before have so many films been created, and never before have these films been so successful internationally: Whereas in the 1970s and 1980s an average of five animated films were produced each year, now around 80 films are made annually, of which around 25 are invited to international festivals each year and regularly win prizes.

Despite the successes, there has been a lack of an inventory documenting these developments - as well as the diversity of Swiss animated film. The comprehensive publication Animation.ch, for which the journalist and comics expert Christian Gasser was recruited, now provides a remedy.

The book will be presented to the public as part of the Fantoche International Festival of Animated Film with this year's focus on "Swiss Animated Film". The event will take place on Thursday, September 8 at 5 p.m. in the Fantoche Lounge at the Merkker in Baden.

In the case of complaints against television or radio broadcasts, the UBI would have to examine whether these are so politically one-sided that the principle of fairness is violated. Blum said this to the media. However, the UBI could "in no way intervene in the election campaign in a regulatory manner". The reason for this is the different deadlines for submissions and statements to the upstream ombudsman and then to the UBI itself. According to Blum, this would mean that the UBI could only make a decision on complaints against election broadcasts in 2012 and thus "to a certain extent set rules for the 2015 election year".

According to UBI Head of Secretariat Pierre Rieder, Swiss radio and television legislation does not contain any special provisions on elections; principles must be formulated by the courts. For the UBI, the focus is on equal opportunities for candidates - both in terms of content and access to election broadcasts.

The UBI's task is also "purely of a broadcasting law nature" in the case of opinion polls, said Blum. In the event of complaints, it would have to examine whether the results were presented appropriately on radio and television. However, it is not allowed to examine whether the methods used by the opinion research institute meet scientific requirements. (SDA)
 

The heads of the six departments will also be partially reassigned, as can be seen from Friday's Baz according to SDA. For example, the "Politics" department will now be headed by Thomas Lüthi managed. The 50-year-old was most recently head of communications at the Baselland Department of Economic Affairs and Health. The 46-year-old becomes head of economics Daniel Schindler, previously a member of the business editorial team.

The 50-year-old Raphael Suter will be the new head of the "Basel-Stadt" department. Suter had been a member of the editorial team until 2010, but left the paper when former editor-in-chief Mathias Geering was replaced by Somm . Since the beginning of August, the 36-year-old has been in charge of the "Baselland" department. Daniel Ballmer, previously head of the regional section of Sonntag.

In addition, the 45-year-old head of sports Marcel tube, cultural director remains the 54-year-old Christoph Heim. Also new to the Baz editorial team are Michael Breu (previously with Swiss Television), Beni Gafner (Schaffhauser Nachrichten), Hansjörg Müller and Alessandra Paone (Basellandschaftliche Zeitung).

Switch from the Baz to the Tageswoche, which will be published on the Internet and in print in Basel from October 28. Michael Rockenbach, previously head of the Baz department Baselland, and Monika Zech, Marc Krebs and Philipp Loser. Christian man changes to Sunday.