Radio Basel on air - collaboration with Radio 1

Radio Basel, the successor to Radio Basel 1, has been on the air since Saturday afternoon. The station offers local, regional, national, and international news, as well as light music. Radio Basel collaborates with Radio 1 on editorial content.

After the start of the broadcast with the chime of the bell for the start of the Autumn Fair, the electronically stored original sounds got mixed up. The first messages were aborted with reference to the technology, which had only been set up "a few seconds ago", and the bell was played again. After a delay of four minutes, everything worked.
While the music in the program is very smooth, the spoken word contributions stand out: for example, the first German-language news block reports on the practice of the Aargau police to ask very personal questions in traffic offences. There was also an interview from the fall fair. There was also an exclusive new short sketch by Emil. In it, the cabaret artist makes fun of radios in general and Basel in particular. The launch of the 22-strong editorial team with a budget of 5 million was thus a professional success.

Radio 1 and Radio Basel join forces
Radio Basel and Zurich's Radio 1 have signed a contract for all editorial content. As Radio 1 boss Roger Schawinski told the media in Basel, the two stations will make all their raw material available to each other. The two stations are linked online. This allows them to use their partner's material freely, as reported on Bazonline.ch. However, Christian Heeb, Managing Director of the new station Radio Basel, said that there are no plans to regularly take over entire broadcasts or to divide the work between the stations.

Radio Basel: Start of broadcasting on October 24 - earlier on DAB
www.bazonline.ch
www.sda.ch

National combination of free newspapers

The Association of Swiss Free Newspapers (VSGZ) now offers a nationwide package deal. Quotes can be obtained using a web-based calculator.

The desired distribution can be calculated with the calculator on Free newspapers.ch can be selected by title or region. After entering the format and selecting the color, the price is calculated automatically. If you want to include these figures in your planning, you can download the calculation as an Excel file.
The Association of Swiss Free Newspapers VSGZ brings together those titles that are published weekly and distributed to all households in their area. Members include the Anzeiger St. Gallen, "Genève Home Information", the Baslerstab and the Bündner Anzeiger.

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Radio 24 celebrates its 30th anniversary

Radio 24, the former pirate radio station, is turning 30: Switzerland’s first private radio station celebrated its anniversary on Friday with a ceremony for invited guests and a big party at the Maag Event Hall in Zurich.

Many media people, such as SF presenter Reto Brennwald and Tamedia CEO Martin Kall, congratulated the station on its milestone birthday. Of course, Roger Schawinski, who founded the station thirty years ago, was also present. Radio 24 went on air for the first time on November 28, 1979. Initially as a pirate station with a transmitter mast on the Italian Pizzo Groppera. Today, the Zurich regional radio station belongs to the Tamedia Group.

National Energyday 09: Companies promote efficient use of energy

On this year's national Energyday 09, wholesalers, specialist retailers, electricity companies and energy cities are promoting the efficient use of energy with nationwide campaigns. The motto of the fourth national Energyday on Saturday is "Efficiency is key".

Under the patronage of the "Energy Switzerland" program of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), for example, information events and other activities are being held in around 30 of Switzerland's 187 energy cities and municipalities. You can also test your knowledge of energy efficiency in a national competition.

www.sda.ch

New York Times posts loss despite austerity measures - recovery in advertising market

Despite continuing to post losses, The New York Times Company is seeing signs of a recovery in the advertising market. Group CEO Janet Robinson said Thursday that the company had seen encouraging signs of improvement across the economy and in discussions with the advertising industry. Print advertising has been performing moderately well recently, and online advertising has been performing even significantly better.

However, it is not yet clear whether the trend will continue. In the third quarter, however, the publisher did not notice much of a recovery. Advertising revenues fell by 27 percent within a year. However, sales only fell by 17 percent to 571 million dollars, as the
Newspaper prices were increased.
For the first time in the company's history, sales revenue exceeded advertising revenue. Thanks to its cost-cutting measures, however, the publishing house lost significantly less money. The quarterly loss was reduced by two thirds to
35.6 million euros. A year ago, however, the result was negatively impacted by write-downs.
The long-established publishing house has now further tightened its cost-cutting measures. Costs were reduced by a good 22 percent in the quarter, compared to 20 percent in the previous quarter. A total of 475 million dollars is to be saved by the end of the year. At the beginning of the week, the company announced its intention to lay off another hundred journalists. In addition, the sale of shareholdings is expected to bring money into the company's coffers.

www.sda.ch

Thurgau campaign to reduce particulate matter

The canton of Thurgau is concerned about air quality within its borders. To complement its existing air quality action plan, it is therefore launching a broad-based campaign under the slogan «Luftaus.ch.» The goal is not to sensationalize the issue, but to inform the public, said State Councilor Jakob Stark to the media on Friday.

The campaign will focus on two pollutants in particular, depending on the season: ozone in summer and particulate matter in winter. Because "the more freely you breathe, the more you live," Stark quoted the poet Theodor Fontane. Although much has been achieved since the beginning of the 1990s, the existing limit values are still being exceeded. The emission of particulate matter must be reduced by half.
This requires a change in behavior, emphasized Jürg Hertz, head of the Office for the Environment. The campaign therefore aims to raise awareness, provide information and make recommendations for action. To keep the topic manageable, the focus is on three key questions: What is particulate matter, how is it harmful and what can each individual do? In the summer months, the focus is on ozone.
The website is the heart of the campaign. It not only provides information and tips, but also rewards your own ideas. Commercials for the website will be placed on radio and television. Advertisements, posters and flyers are intended to attract attention and competitions to ensure broad participation.
The campaign aims to attract as many interested people as possible to the Internet and "to take a look, think and get involved". It will run for six years and cost around 50,000 francs per year.

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Spotlight Festival with new competition category

The 13th Spotlight International Advertising Film Festival will take place in Mannheim from March 4 to 5. A new competition category has been created for this year’s festival: «no limits.» In addition to «TV & Cinema» and the viral spots in the «Web & Mobile» category, »no limits» also accepts submissions in all other forms and formats of the rapidly evolving field of advertising moving-image communication.

The only restriction in the newly created category is that entries may not be longer than 200 seconds. At the spotlight festival, the audience jury of up to 2000 people also votes alongside the expert jury. The 13th edition of the festival will take place on March 4 - 5, 2010 at the Rosengarten in Mannheim.
Competition entries can be registered and submitted online from November 1, 2009, with a closing date of December 4, 2009. Conditions of participation and further information: www. spotlight-festival.de.

Audience Council praises SF1 program "Elections in Germany" as a "successful look across the border"

The Audience Council observed Swiss television's coverage of the federal elections in Germany on September 27 and drew a positive conclusion overall. The well-composed discussion panels met with approval, as did the rapid information and assessment as well as the comprehensible reporting. A majority of the Council criticized the hectic pace of the special broadcasts due to the many switches to live interviews.

Overall, the Audience Council gave Swiss television a very good rating for its coverage of the German elections. On election afternoon, those responsible for broadcasting succeeded in embedding the view of the neighboring country well into the various voting programs. According to the Audience Council, the important election issues were discussed and also made understandable for Swiss viewers. However, it was only halfway successful in explaining the complicated German electoral system.

www.sf.tv

Adaptation of radio and television advertising to European directives triggers criticism

The amendment of the Ordinance on Advertising on Radio and Television to bring it into line with European directives has sparked an outcry. The concerns include the decline of public service broadcasting, distortion of competition, and the entrenchment of the SRG’s monopoly position. The amendment to the Radio and Television Ordinance (RTVV) is intended to prevent Swiss broadcasters from being at a disadvantage in terms of advertising, particularly compared to their German, French, and Italian counterparts.

Two proposals are ready for SRG. According to both, advertising time is to be increased from the current 8 to 15 percent of daily broadcasting time. In addition, the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) wants to increase advertising on the
SRG's online offering. The hearing ended on Friday.
The SVP firmly rejects OFCOM's proposals. The proposal would lead to a further cementing of the already great market power of the quasi-monopolist SRG. For Presse Suisse, the association of publishers in French-speaking Switzerland, it is crucial that the advertising ban that applies to all SRG internet portals remains in place. The entry of public media into this market niche would lead to a "particularly serious distortion of the competitive situation", as they would use online content that has been produced for radio and television and thus financed with public funds. According to SDA, the Association for Critical Media Use ARBUS is also convinced that the bill would "commercialize the public service in a way that is no longer acceptable". The amendment to the ordinance has also met with unanimous opposition from consumer organizations. In a joint communiqué, the Foundation for Consumer Protection SKS and its Latin counterparts firmly reject the draft.
The SRG will publish its position on Thursday. The CVP will not comment on the hearing. The FDP and SP have yet to respond.

www.sda.ch

Take-off for the new Mezger with BSSM

Yesterday, Mezger Watches and Jewelry officially opened its new store at its new location at Freie Strasse 101 in Basel. The BSSM advertising agency is responsible for all communications.

The new Mezger stocks 17 watch brands and jewelry on 170 square meters of sales space. The bright, airy and urban interior design with two exquisite lounges provides the perfect setting for relaxed consultations. The BSSM advertising agency has now designed the communication for the official opening of the new store, from the invitation to the partner advertisements to the 12-page broadsheet in the Basler Zeitung.
Responsible at Mezger Uhren und Juwelen, Basel: Urs Mezger (overall responsibility). Responsible at BSSM, Basel: Urs Schneider (CD), Hans Peter Brugger, Hannes Müller (text), Pascal Rehmann (AD), Roger Berthoud, Claudia Paganini (consulting). Photographer: Eugen Leu & Partner, archive.
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Basler Zeitung Medien posts loss for the 08/09 financial year

The economic crisis, which led to a dramatic decline in job advertisements and overall advertising orders across the entire Swiss media industry, also hit the Basler Zeitung Medien (BZM) Group hard in the 2008/2009 fiscal year. Basler Zeitung Medien’s total revenue reached 262 million Swiss francs, with an operating loss of 12.232 million.

While a consolidated profit of CHF 7 million was achieved in the previous year, the operating loss for the period from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009 amounted to CHF 12.232 million. The Group's total sales, which were reported at CHF 281.6 million in the 07/08 financial year, amounted to CHF 262.992 million despite the adverse conditions.
The one-off restructuring expenses of 7.363 million francs reported in the current balance sheet mainly comprise the expenses incurred by the company for social matters, according to a BZM press release. These are social plans that were agreed for the personnel measures at Basler Zeitung on the one hand and for those in connection with the closure of the web offset division of the BZM subsidiary Birkhäuser+GBC on the other. There were also losses in the securities area.
In addition to the aforementioned personnel measures and the discontinuation of the unprofitable web offset business, the measures already implemented to eliminate significant cost factors include in particular the sale of Radio Basel 1 and the discontinuation of the free newspaper News Basel. The Baslerstab was converted into a twice-weekly newspaper.

www.baz.ch

Great Britain: BBC causes a storm of indignation by inviting a far-right politician

By inviting a far-right politician onto its flagship talk show, the British broadcaster BBC has sparked a storm of outrage. Hundreds of people protested in London against the planned appearance of the leader of the British National Party (BNP). Clashes with police also broke out on Thursday.

Numerous politicians and activists called on the renowned public
legal institution to disinvite the right-wing extremist from the show "Question Time" again. According to its statutes, the Nationalist Party only accepts white members. It won two seats in the Strasbourg parliament in the European elections in June, making Griffin an elected MEP. Cabinet Minister Peter Hain criticized: "If you treat them (racist parties) in the same way as others, then they gain ground. We saw that in Nazi Germany."
Up to 30 protesters stormed the BBC building in West London to prevent the appearance of far-right politician Nick Griffin. Dozens of police officers were deployed. Numerous protesters gathered hours before the broadcast and the organizers expected thousands of participants. The police seized demonstrators who had entered the BBC center and took them out of the building. According to Scotland Yard, no arrests were initially made.
BBC director Mark Thompson defended the invitation. He referred to the "principle of independence". The aim was to "listen to the full range of political perspectives". Only the government could impose censorship on the broadcasters. However, Prime Minister Gordon Brown rejected this. It was a matter for the BBC, in which he did not want to interfere. Griffin was given a suspended sentence for racial hatred in 1998 and has also been repeatedly linked to Holocaust denial.

www.sda.ch

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