The DRS Virus team is moving from Basel to Zurich. From September 1, the program will be broadcast from the studio in Zurich. The music departments of DRS Virus and DRS 3 will work more closely together in future. The music concept is also new. DRS Virus will focus "more on new music and sound outside the mainstream", according to a press release issued on Thursday. Dialogue with the audience will also be expanded. Listeners will be able to directly influence the program on the Internet.
According to SDA, DRS Virus has been in existence for ten years and, according to Publica Data, has a reach of around 80,000 people in German-speaking Switzerland and a market share of 0.2 percent in the first half of 2009.

www.sda.ch
www.drs.ch

The "Day of Freelancers" will be held for the tenth time on September 12, 2009 at the Karl der Grosse Center in Zurich. The conference, which is organized every year by the "Freelance Commission" of the media trade union Comedia, is aimed at freelance journalists, photographers and other freelance media professionals. The anniversary event will be a "meeting point for all those who are on the street today," Comedia said in a press release. The title of this year's event is "Journalism in crisis - an opportunity for freelancers?". Since May of this year, over 300 editorial positions have already been cut or corresponding cuts announced.
Among those affected are 69 previously permanent journalists from the free newspaper ".ch", 88 from the "Tages-Anzeiger", 19 from the "Bund" and 22 from the "NZZ". The "NLZ" is losing 15 editors, the "BAZ" 20, Vogt/Schild has laid off 15 people and the AZAG ("Aargauer Zeitung"/"Mittelland Zeitung)" is laying off 65 editors. Many of those made redundant are now trying their luck as freelancers. The freelance commission emphasizes that tips and tools can be given to existing freelancers and those who have become freelancers as a result of the cutbacks in the print media. In particular, it sees the quality of journalism under threat, but also the watchdog function of the media and, not least, the free formation of opinion in our democracy.

www.comedia.ch
www.freie.ch

From the beginning of 2012, SRG will broadcast six of its television programs via satellite in high-definition quality HDTV in parallel to the current standard format SDTV. According to current planning, this simultaneous distribution in SDTV and HDTV is expected to last until 2015. At the end of this phase, SF info will also switch to the HDTV standard, according to the press portal.
The broadcasting of six SRG HDTV programs concerns: SF 1, SF zwei, TSR 1, TSR 2; RSI LA 1 and RSI LA 2. In addition to distribution via satellite, the programs will also be receivable via cable in HDTV.
When six SRG channels are switched on in HDTV quality in 2012, around 20 percent of all Swiss television households should be equipped to receive HDTV.

www.broadcast.ch

Ballet luminary Heinz Spoerli was inspired by composer Leos Janácek's vows of love to his lover Kamila Stösslová to create a dance work in a class of its own: "Lettres intimes" is the title of his latest choreography, which, alongside "Sarcasms" by Hans van Manen and "In the upper room" by Twyla Tharp, will celebrate its premiere at Zurich Opera House on August 29. After a long time, Heinz Spoerli once again entrusted the production of the poster subject to Frank Bodin, who designed the Zurich Ballet logo and posters such as the dancing squirrel for the Nutcracker, which was awarded a gold medal by the ADC. Frank Bodin did not miss the opportunity to take up the pen or fountain pen himself for the new motif: Based on the leitmotif of the love letter, two fountain pens were arranged for the poster in such a way that they are reminiscent of a ballerina on tiptoe.
Responsible at Zurich Ballet / Zurich Opera House: Heinz Spoerli, Peter Marschel . Responsible at Euro RSCG Zurich: Axel Eckstein (Creative Direction), Philipp Lengyel (Art Direction), Frank Bodin (Text/Concept), Anna Colby (Art Buying), Cornelia Dürst (Consulting), Markus Weber (Photography).

www.eurorscg.ch

On Saturday, August 29th, all Renault dealers in Switzerland will be holding a simultaneous exhibition of the Renault model range. The big attraction this year is the built-in navigation system that comes with every new car. The advertising agency Publicis dramatized this promise in a campaign which, on the one hand, demonstrates the advantages of a navigation system and, on the other, points the way to the nearest Renault dealer.
The result is a comprehensive multimedia campaign with a 1:39 minute internet spot for the Renault portal. It was filmed at 18 different locations with over 30 people portraying passers-by who show a Renault driver the direct route to the Renault dealer. A 30-second short version of this film will be shown on TV throughout Switzerland on 28.08.09.
The campaign also includes a print campaign, which can be seen as an advertisement in all Swiss newspapers and on the cover of Migros magazine, as well as a 12-page newspaper supplement with a circulation of over 2 million copies, which will be enclosed in all Swiss newspapers with a wide reach this week and will also be sent out as a mailing by dealers. A radio spot, spoken by a navigation system voice, which guides the driver past the competitors' car brands to the Renault dealer, is also on air throughout Switzerland. Individual dealer advertisements, showroom posters and various BTL measures for dealers such as competition cards, urn stickers, window stickers and F12 posters round off the campaign.
Responsible at Renault Suisse SA: Florian Huettl (Marketing Director), Anne Thorens (Head of Advertising/CRM/Internet), Cristina Ravalli (Communications Planner), Pamela Bouvier (Purchasing Manager). Responsible at Publicis: Ralph Halder, Peter Rettinghausen (CD), Dani Kobi (AD), Jan Krohn (text), Sonja Gross, Yeliz Salman, Romeo Bucher (graphics), Isabelle Hettel (strategy), Muriel Asté, Martin Schlatter, Jacqueline Lima, Ingrid Zumkehr (consulting), Deborah Herzig, Vera Schmid, Derya Derdiyok (art buying) Bianca Nehrlich (production), Philipp Läderach (DTP). Production: Stephan Schacher (photographer), Combo Entertainment (film).

To the spot

www.renault.ch
www.publicis.ch

The RGB program commission held a meeting on Thursday. They are pleased that there will be another joint summer campaign by the regional journals next year. In the opinion of the committee, the 09 campaign, which was dedicated to "court reporting", is a good argument for continuing the idea that was once doubted in program circles. Peter Brandenberger, Head of Regional Journalism, held out the prospect of this at a meeting of the PK.
In the opinion of the panel, however, the reference to the farm could have been better emphasized in some contributions. The regional journals are encouraged to be even more experimental in terms of journalistic design in summer 2010. The fact that not all door-to-door visits were equally productive was gladly accepted. And the fact that the editorial team's summer campaign brought an urban development idea - the inner courtyard revitalization - to life in a concrete, live and entertaining way was noted as another positive aspect.
The RGB Program Commission clearly likes the new "Live" show on "SF bi de Lüt" better than its predecessor "Bsuech in...". However, it regrets that the longer broadcasting time is not used to provide more in-depth information about the broadcasting location. She criticizes the fact that the current mode hardly gives viewers a valid picture of the location. All in all, however, the program is described as entertaining and varied. When choosing topics, the focus should be less on the unusual in a place and more on the typical.
If it were up to the PK, the outdoor reportage would be dropped or at least reconsidered. The PK finds it a shame that the music and singing groups are often just "staffage" or out of place.

www.srgbern.ch

Swiss online news offerings increased their unique audience by almost 9% overall between April and July 2009. The average frequency of visits remains stable, while the duration of use in the category tends to increase slightly, peaking at 45 minutes in June 2009. The Net View figures for July 2009 on Internet usage at home show that the major Swiss online news services have continued to grow since April 2009.
On average, Swiss internet users visited online news sites nine times a month, with 10 visits in June. The amount of time spent surfing the various sites varied in the months under comparison. While an average of around 38 minutes was spent visiting online news sites in April 2009, the duration of use in June 2009 peaked at 45 minutes in the period under review. This corresponds to a significant increase of 15.6%. In July, however, this figure fell again.

Overall, the proportion of male users predominates on all portals in the top 5. At 35 percent, 20 Minuten has the highest proportion of 18- to 34-year-old Internet users. The figure for the other portals in the top 5 is below 30 percent, with this age group being the smallest at Bluewin news with 14 percent. NZZ Online has the most users in the income group over CHF 113,901 with 28 percent, while 20 Minuten has almost half as many with 15 percent. Overall, 20 Minuten and Blick Online have the lowest proportion of visitors over the age of 50. NZZ Online, Tagesanzeiger.ch and Bluewin news have significantly more internet users in this age category compared to the respective portal-related age distribution.
The analysis of lost and new users compared to the previous month provides further revealing insights. None of the portals (top 5) lost unique audience compared to the previous month, or to put it another way: The proportion of lost users is made up for by the new users gained.

www.net-metrix-tracking.ch

DRS Virus.ch reached the winner's podium at this year's Radio Day. The private station Radio Central was awarded 2nd place. Third place went to Radio DRS3. Radio Day took place in Zurich yesterday for the 10th time.
The "Radio of the Year" was also chosen in 2009 as part of this most important event of the year for the radio scene. To mark the 10th anniversary of Radio Day this year, the development of listener numbers for all Swiss radios over the last 10 years was used as a benchmark. Radio Central has recorded a 44% increase in listeners over the last 10 years and currently has 169,400 listeners daily, according to Publica Data from the first half of 2009.

www.radioday.ch

The dominant topic at yesterday's Swissprinters Time-Out in Zurich was once again the future of media, marketing and communication. How are new technologies changing consumer behavior? And what does it take for an idea to become a trend or even a megatrend? Sven Gábor Jánszky, Frank Bodin, Tobias Trevisan and Jean-Claude Biver spoke about likely scenarios and opportunities for new business models. The event was moderated by TV newsman Stefan Klapproth.
What will the media world look like in 2020? This was the question posed by keynote speaker Sven Gábor Jánszky. His answer was: "Every object will have an IP address and will therefore be accessible and directly controllable. Individually designed offers will dominate the market and there will be electronic assistants for this. For print media, this means that the power to compile offers, which previously resided in the editorial offices, will be decentralized." According to Swiss Printers, Tobias Trevisan, Managing Director of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, showed what the individualization of content could look like in practice by presenting the FAZ's online strategy, which makes use of semantic processes. A specially developed technology allows digital content to be managed automatically and published in a personalized way. In this way, pages can be compiled individually according to profile. Advertiser of the Year Frank Bodin explained why cross-media campaigns are becoming increasingly important in this context. According to him, the decisive factor for the success of a company is "an excellent central idea that works in a wide variety of forms and media", said Bodin. Jean-Claude Biver explained what extraordinary ideas can achieve. The CEO of the luxury watch brand Hublot created a watch on which you can barely tell the time and celebrated a huge success with it.

www.swissprinters.ch

Items of clothing with holes have recently been on display at Zurich's Bahnhofplatz. This is the result of a collaboration between PET Recycling Switzerland and the Swiss outdoor and trekking store hajk. The campaign aims to highlight the fact that empty PET bottles are a valuable material that can also be used to make clothes.
"The holes in the jackets made from recycled PET in the hajk shop window show passers-by the loss of valuable material caused by a discarded PET bottle," says Jean-Claude Würmli, Head of Marketing at PET Recycling Switzerland. It is very important to us that our own products have a minimal impact on nature," explains Marcel Andrey, Managing Director of hajk Scout & Sport. "That's why we also have products made from recycled PET in our range."
A competition will be held to accompany the window display: In the store
Address labels ready to be filled in and stuck on empty PET bottles brought along
can. To enter the competition, the labeled PET bottle must be returned by September 8.
2009 into the PET collection bin in the store. Under the addresses on the
bottles, the winners of the 10 all-weather jackets from
Haglöfs drawn by lot. On Saturday afternoon, August 29, 2009, employees of PET-Recycling Switzerland will provide information about the PET material cycle in front of the hajk store.

www.petrecycling.ch
www.hajk.ch

The 10th Swiss Radio Day took place in Zurich on August 27. 3iii and DRS Virus were awarded the "Radio of the Year" prize. According to the organizers, the two stations had the largest relative increase in listeners since Radio Day began ten years ago. Local Ticino radio station 3iii received the award for Latin Switzerland, while DRS station Virus won the award for German-speaking Switzerland. Virus had already received the industry award in 2007.
Around 400 interested people took part in the anniversary edition of Radio Day at the Zurich World Trade Center. The SRG, the Association of Swiss Private Radios VSP and the Union Romande de Radios Régionales are involved in the organization.
The next Swiss Radio Day will again take place in Zurich on August 26, 2010.

Ruf Lanz and its online partner Coundco have launched a cross-media campaign for the car insurance sector in time for the next policy cancellation deadline on 30 September. Smile.direct supports budget planning in Swiss households for the coming year and, according to the press release, is not afraid to make a clear appeal with the current campaign: "Say goodbye to your old, expensive car insurance. Switch to Smile.direct and save an average of 500 francs.
The conceptual core of the campaign is formed by legally binding termination letters that are written as farewell letters to the old insurance company. Users can calculate their potential premium savings on a microsite and then choose and print out a specific farewell letter design. This makes switching insurance to Smile.direct easy and convenient. In addition to the termination date, all other possible reasons for termination are also covered by farewell letters.
As befits a company that sells its products primarily via the Internet, the online advertising measures are very important. But the benefits of Smile.direct car insurance will also be communicated offline over the next few weeks. This includes advertisements in the Sunday press. They show sweetly written farewell letters that can be personalized, cut out and sent to the old insurance company as a legally binding notice of termination.