According to SDA, the television group announced on Thursday that there will be no profit sharing for the ordinary shares, which are largely held by the two financial investors. This is the second year in a row that the investment companies have come away empty-handed. KKR and Permira had previously come in for harsh criticism when they approved distributions of 270 million euros for the 2007 financial year at the expense of Pro Sieben Sat.1 - three times the profit at the time. The finance companies have also saddled the Group with a mountain of debt of 3.3 billion euros. Interest of around 230 million euros was due on this alone in 2009.
From the 2009 annual profit of EUR 144.5 million, on the other hand, the small shareholders, who participate in the company via preference shares, are to receive the minimum distribution of EUR 0.02 per share prescribed in the articles of association, as in the previous year - a total of EUR 2.1 million. In 2008, Pro Sieben Sat.1 posted a loss of EUR 129 million.
Costs reduced by 220 million euros
According to Group CEO Thomas Ebeling, the past year went better for the broadcasting group than initially expected. "Thanks to sustainable cost management and the good performance in the fourth quarter, we brought the company back into the profit zone in 2009," said the manager, who took over a year ago. Pro Sieben Sat.1 reduced its costs by EUR 220 million, among other things through more reruns. This is more than twice as much as initially planned. In addition, the TV advertising market did not collapse as much as feared, with a minus of ten percent. Turnover fell by six percent to 2.8 billion euros in 2009.
However, the former pharmaceuticals manager did not provide an outlook for 2010. Although the general economic conditions have improved, Ebeling said that the company does not yet have a clear outlook. In any case, savings will continue to be made.

With these measures, which were drawn up by publishing director Rudolf Lehmann and editor-in-chief Matthias Mast, the Berner Bär, which faces strong competition from official and municipal gazettes in its catchment area, is reacting to the ongoing difficult situation in the local advertising markets, according to a press release issued on Thursday. The new publication format will result in a reduction of seven full-time positions. All affected employees will be covered by Espace Media's social plan, which was concluded last year together with representatives of the staff committees of the Bund and Berner Zeitung BZ. All decisions are subject to the results of the consultation with the affected employees.
The changes also include a slightly renewed appearance. Overall, Espace wants to strengthen the profile of the Berner Bär as a people and event newspaper.
Comedia regrets job cuts
Comedia regrets Espace Media's plans to cut seven full-time jobs at Berner Bär. "The publishing house Espace Media (owned by Zurich-based Tamedia) is continuing the rapid job cuts in the industry by laying off more media professionals. A company of this size and economic strength must be in a position to offer employees internal jobs and stagger redundancies in the event of downsizing measures," the media union writes in a press release. The upcoming consultation process must be used with this in mind.

The main reason for the slump was value adjustments in connection with the Romanian print business to be sold. Taking this separation into account, profit from continuing operations rose by 2.2 percent to CHF 18.4 million, according to the SDA press release.
As already announced, business was less good in operational terms: operating profit (EBIT) fell by 8.3% to CHF 18.6 million. Operating profit at EBITDA level fell by 3.6 percent to 22.1 million. In January, Goldbach had already announced an increase in sales from CHF 265 million to CHF 306 million for 2009. The Group grew particularly strongly in the sale of advertising for the Internet, where sales rose by 21 percent.
Goldbach Media aims to gain market share in all businesses in the current year. According to CEO Klaus Kappeler, the start to the new year has been successful. "We were able to carry the positive momentum of the fourth quarter of 2009 into the first quarter of the year," he explained at the annual media conference, according to SDA. He said he was confident that the positive growth would continue for the rest of the year.
Expansion in the east
According to CEO Kappeler, the focus in 2010 will be on the further expansion of business in Eastern Europe. In 2009, Goldbach Media already generated sales of CHF 62.1 million in Eastern Europe, or around 20 percent of total sales. By the end of 2010, the share of sales generated by international business is expected to significantly exceed 20 percent.
Further expansion steps can be expected in the second half of the year in particular. This also includes entering new markets, said Kappeler. Strategically, Goldbach Media is aiming to develop the entire Eastern European market, including Turkey. Kappeler does not explicitly include Greece and Hungary. The online sales share, which amounted to 37 percent last year, is also to be further increased. By 2012/2013, over 50 percent of sales are to be generated online.
In Switzerland, Goldbach Media once again gained market share. Revenues in the most important segment, TV, increased by 4.9% to CHF 150 million. Radio increased by 5.2 percent to CHF 34 million. Finally, Goldbach's online revenues in the home market increased by 18 percent to CHF 57 million.

According to the press release, the aim of the campaign is not to leave buyers of a Nikon camera out in the rain - at least financially - if it rains excessively over the Easter weekend (April 2-5, 2010). Customers who purchase a Nikon compact or SLR camera between February 15 and March 14 will receive a guarantee for sunshine on the Easter weekend 2010. If it rains for more than three days, the customer will receive a full refund. To take part in the campaign, buyers must register by March 15, 2010 at the latest at Meteo-cashback.ch and choose a suitable weather station from 16 Swiss weather stations. The amount of precipitation per day from which the guarantee applies depends on the selected weather station and is described on the Meteo Cashback website (e.g. Bern: 6mm precipitation = rainy day). The rainfall measurement is based on the official measured values of Meteo Switzerland.

From now on, the joint umbrella communication of the cantonal banks will take on an additional dimension: the competence, in particular the investment competence, of the cantonal bank and its employees is to be placed center stage. Accordingly, the existing advertising concept will be replaced by a new one: the "Success" campaign. It is based on the idea that success is something different for everyone.
The new TV commercials form the basis of the image campaign. The TV commercials consist of self-contained short sequences. Different people make a statement about what success means to them personally: for example, an artist, the managing director of a weaving mill, a retired woman or a couple going on a long journey. Finally, a Kantonalbank employee comments: "For us at Kantonalbank, success is a satisfied customer. And because success is different for every customer, the best investment advice is personalized."
The various success statements, investment expertise and the promise "Growing together." also play a central role in print. Image motifs from the TV commercials and text satellites were created, i.e. ad combinations with different success statements and a resolution ad.
Responsible at the ASCB: Elisabeth Bürgin (Head of Marketing Communications), Miriam Gramelsbacher (Marketing Communications employee). Responsible at Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett: Martin Spillmann (CD), Simon Staub (AD), Peter Brönnimann (text), Andy Stäheli, Nino Zuberbühler (consulting), Suzana Kovacevic (art buying); film production: Martin Haerlin (director), Pumpkin Film Zurich; photography: Vera Hartmann.

Success is... from SFLB on Vimeo.

The newcomer indie pop band from Brooklyn forms the core of the campaign. It thus represents a continuation of the brand's new global advertising strategy. The subject, which was designed by the Tommy Hilfiger creative team in collaboration with photographer Todd Cole, is intended to capture an informal American spirit, according to a statement from Hilfiger press office Weibel Communication.

The evening event will take place on April 22, 2010 at the Maag EventHall in Zurich. Tickets can be purchased on the homepage Xaver-award.ch can be ordered. This year, the awards for the most convincing live communication projects will also be crowned with a gala dinner. The awards in the respective categories will be staged as a multimedia showcase embedded in a multi-course menu and accompanied on a musical level by Swiss shooting star Lea Lu and her band. In this way, the theme of "Swissness" will be interpreted in a contemporary and modern way, as the association writes in a press release.

This was announced by the head of the News Corp media group on Tuesday in New York. Murdoch accused the New York Times of having lost its local focus and contact with its readers. The Wall Street Journal does not want to make this mistake. We will report on everything that makes New York so interesting, he said according to SDA.
A new editorial team is to be set up for the project and new reporters hired, as Murdoch emphasized. However, the entrepreneur did not want to reveal more, except that the new local section will be colorful and very lively.

For the major publishing houses Tamedia, NZZ, Ringier and Edipresse, the digital paid newspaper is at least one approach to solving the declining sales figures in print. As the Beobachter writes on Wednesday, they are joining forces with the bookseller Orell Füssli and Swisscom to sell digitized newspapers and books via a new online kiosk. Readers will be able to purchase a discounted reading device on which they can download newspapers and books. The media companies thus appear to be deviating from the strategy of free news.
According to observers, the reader is not the well-known Kindle from Amazon, nor the announced iPad from Apple or a device from Sony. What is currently being tested is a reader that is hardly known in Europe and, like the Kindle, is only capable of black and white display. The device has to pass 150 test readers in spring. Depending on the results, the market launch is then planned for 2011. Publishers are bypassing middlemen with their own sales portal. Amazon and Apple, for example, charge 30 percent for sales via their platform.
However, this is not the end of free media offerings, according to Tamedia spokesperson Christop Zimmer. With the new offer, texts can be read in a way that is much closer to a printed newspaper in terms of quality and convenience. Tamedia is convinced that readers are willing to pay for this. However, this depends on whether all media companies pursue the same strategy, as Zurich media economist Patrick Rademacher explains according to Beobachter. In addition, it must be possible to use the reader for various purposes. Ideally, the device should also be able to be used to surf the net and write e-mails, and possibly also play music and films, so that enough readers are prepared to buy the device.

Oberholzer also supports Eyekon in editorial matters. Cécile Oberholzer has already built up several online communities and has always been active in the Internet industry. The 30-year-old has worked for Star Net Media and Zattoo, among others. Oberholzer studied sociology and computer science at the University of Zurich.

The commercials tie in with the overall campaign "Guaranteed never boring" and show everyday care in trailer style. At the same time, an information page is being set up on the social platform Facebook, where young people can exchange information with each other.
Responsible at Prime Communications, Zurich (in collaboration with Senta van de Weetering Medien): Andreas Sedmak, Martina Glaser (consulting), Basil Hangarter (creative direction). Responsible at Eclipse Film (film production): Michael Burtscher (producer, director, sound design), Mathieu Gabi (camera, editing), Faro Burtscher (storyboard, lighting), Joëlle Fricker (production manager), Recomp (sound studio).

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At the same time, it partially upheld a complaint. This concerned a text on the subject of ecological compensation that appeared in the Oberland free weekly newspaper Regio.ch at the beginning of June 2009 and was signed "rp". According to the SDA, this abbreviation is used in the editorial office when information sent free of charge is published in an edited form, as the Press Council writes. The original text came from a professor at the Rapperswil University of Applied Sciences. A few days earlier, he had sent it to the Zürcher Oberländer ZO for publication without being asked. It was then passed on to the free newspaper published by the same publishing house, Zürcher Oberland Medien.
The professor filed a complaint with the Press Council. In his opinion, Regio.ch had obtained the text in an unfair manner and also violated the obligation to cite sources, as the author was not named. According to the Press Council in its statement published on Wednesday, there had in fact been a violation of the fairness of research as set out in the "Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Journalists". Firstly, the author should have been asked or at least informed before his text was passed on to another newspaper. In addition, the author of the report should have been named, as the statement goes on to say. However, the principle of naming sources had not been violated.