On July 4, 2009, the new entertainment offer of the pay-TV channel Sky, formerly Premiere, goes on air. Sky is launching the new Sky Welt package. According to a report by the industry service Kress, it contains 20 national and international channels, including Sky Krimi, Fox and TNT Serie. Another focus is on the documentary channels Motorvision TV, Spiegel Geschichte, Discovery Channel, National Geographic and National Geographic Wild. The package also includes children's programs such as Disney Channel and Jetix. Sky customers in Germany and Austria can also expect an HD offering with six channels. Sky is also launching the new Sky Film and Sky Sport packages in July.

Matter & Gretener has continued the campaign for the Radisson Blu Hotel at Zurich Airport. The hotel's location, design and conference area are advertised with a wealth of headlines. Advertising media include posters, banners and advertisements. According to the Zurich agency, the latter will also be placed in the German print title Capital and in the British edition of Time Magazine.
Responsible at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Zurich Airport: Werner Knechtli (General Manager), Helge Lütters (Deputy General Manager), Stefan Schaer (Director of Sales & Marketing). Responsible at Matter & Gretener: Daniel Matter (CD), Dominik Imseng (text), Urs Hartmann (AD), Imer Krasniqi (graphics), Jochen Hennecke (consulting). Banner and landing page: Hausheer AG.

From this Saturday, May 30, 2009, the matchmaking show Swissdate will present itself with a new broadcasting concept. Now that the show has a new face in Gabriela Ursprung, it is time to make changes to the concept, according to a Tele Züri press release. Each new program will feature an expert on the topic of love, relationships and sexuality. Blick sex advisor Eliane Schweitzer will be the first. In addition, Swissdate success stories will be presented on a regular basis. A third change concerns the main candidates: they will now undergo a comprehensive styling before their appearance - in the show they will appear in a completely new look.

In Flagranti has continued the communication campaign launched in fall 2008 for 1to1 Energy, the association of over 130 regional energy supply companies. According to the agency, the subjects tell electricity stories from the perspective of people, animals or objects. In this way, the thought process of a bicycle or a snail that relies on Minergie is given a legible voice.
New subjects, some with a strong local connection, continue the stories in all umbrella and product communication measures through to the promotion of the products. A key feature of the implementation is the use of twilight photography, according to the press release. The campaign was launched on May 11, 2009 and will run until June 12, 2009.
A competition will also be launched in June 2009. An advertising campaign in national newspapers and regional advertisers will use images of towns to show who is and who is not part of 1to1 Energy's coverage area. Anyone who recognizes which towns are definitely not part of the supply area has a good chance of winning a prize. You can win an electric bike, Stromer model and 100 energy-saving light bulbs.

Slight reduction in redundancies: 14 full-time positions will be cut in the editorial department of the Bund instead of the announced 19. 19 people are affected in total. Among other things, a solidarity campaign within the editorial team has saved two jobs.
Eleven members of the Bund editorial team have voluntarily reduced their workload, said Christopher Wehrli, Head of Communications at the Bund's parent company Espace Media, when asked by SDA. As a result, 135 full-time positions could be saved, which are attributable to two people. The Bund editorial team had submitted corresponding proposals to the management on Tuesday in order to prevent redundancies. Wehrli was unable to explain exactly how the job cuts differed from those originally announced.
Wehrli was also unable to say exactly what effect the downsizing would have within the departments. When asked by SDA, Bund editor-in-chief Artur K. Vogel said that the economy and culture departments of the Bund would remain, but would be reduced in size. The foreign and domestic departments would be merged. The local department would be the least affected by the job cuts.
Three new positions will be created in the sports editorial department, which will work closely with the Tages-Anzeiger to create the sports section. The Bernese sports reporters will continue to work in Bern. Two jobs will be cut in the sports editorial department of the Berner Zeitung, which previously supplied the Bund. According to Wehrli, a transfer to the newly created sports editorial office is conceivable. The rest of the BZ editorial team is to be spared job cuts for the time being.
The employees of the Bund, Berner Zeitung and Tages-Anzeiger have been informed in personal talks since Wednesday. Negotiations on the structure of the social plan are due to start at the beginning of June. In a press release on Wednesday, the professional association Impressum raised the question of whether the desired quality of the new newspaper could be maintained with such a "thinned-out" editorial team.

The Competition Commission (Comco) is taking a closer look at the early delivery of newspapers. It is examining whether the planned merger of the delivery services of the NZZ Group, Tamedia and Swiss Post will create a dominant market position. The merger would create a new early delivery organization covering most of German-speaking Switzerland and certain parts of French-speaking Switzerland, the Weko wrote in a statement on Wednesday.
The preliminary examination revealed indications that a dominant position "could be created or strengthened" as a result, the Weko further writes. A central question in the in-depth investigation will be whether and to what extent there is potential competition in early delivery to Swiss Post, the NZZ Group and Tamedia, which could enter the market. There are no or very few other organizations active in the area of activity of the new early delivery organization.
Swiss Post and NZZ Group not surprised
Neither Swiss Post nor NZZ Group are surprised by the Weko's decision. "We expected this," Beat Lauber, who is responsible for the Presto AG project at NZZ Group, told the SDA news agency on Wednesday. One waits now the reasoning. "With excitement" Swiss Post awaits the decision, which will be made in the next four months.
At the end of September 2008, Swiss Post, Tamedia and the NZZ Group had signed a letter of intent under which they intend to merge their holdings in various delivery and distribution organizations and transfer them to a new Swiss Post subsidiary. Swiss Post is to hold 75 percent of the new company Presto AG, while NZZ and Tamedia will each hold 12.5 percent. In October, the communications union welcomed the plan as a step in the right direction. This would prevent competition from being carried out unilaterally on the backs of employees. The union hopes for better working conditions and called for a progressive collective labor agreement. Whether such an agreement would be an option is left open by Swiss Post spokesman Oliver Flüeler. "We are waiting for the Weko's decision first and will then discuss how to proceed." In return for the merger, Tamedia is taking over 75 percent of Räber Information Management GmbH, which operates the online portal search.ch, from Swiss Post.
Founded in 1995, the portal says it reaches over 2.5 million customers in Switzerland, making it the second most visited website.

The Zurich-based media group Ringier has not been spared from the crisis in the industry. The advertising business literally collapsed at the end of 2008. Chairman of the Board of Directors Michael Ringier does not see a turnaround for the time being. "This is the most difficult phase we have ever had to overcome," said Ringier in an interview with Handelszeitung published on Wednesday, according to SDA. The media group had already registered the first declines in advertising in July. "October and November were catastrophic", and there has been no sign of a counter-trend so far this year. However, there are still products and countries that are doing relatively well, Ringier continued. There is growth potential in the online business. Ringier has invested a "three-digit million amount" with the purchase of Media Swiss, which operates the internet platform Gate24.ch, among others. "This is an investment that has made us the number one in this segment in terms of turnover".
Blick online brings no money
Ringier is "very satisfied" with Blick online. "We were in the black, but then important investments were necessary," said Ringier. Making money with it now is not the top priority. But Blick online is a matter of course for Blick readers. Abandoning the portal would damage the brand. Ringer could not afford to have a leading newspaper on the market without an online presence. "So we are forced to have 'Blick online', even if we are not currently earning any money with it."
The Group does not earn any money with the free commuter paper Blick am Abend either. However, the Blick Group and Blick itself are profitable, said Ringier. Ringier is "not happy at all" with the print edition of the publishing house's flagship. In tabloid format, the paper offers too little space "to present stories in an attractive way. We need to distinguish ourselves again as a different kind of newspaper". The newspaper format will therefore be changed. He has not yet decided whether there will be a larger tabloid format or a return to the old format. A decision will be made in the coming months.
Cash losses contained
The Cash brand has not suffered despite the closure of the weekly and the free newspaper. However, it was a bitter disappointment that the free paper had to be discontinued, said Ringier. By discontinuing the print edition and cutting staff, the cost side of the business title had been reduced. "We believe that we will earn money in the medium term". Ringier did not want to know about a loss of CHF 11 million at the Cash Group. However, it was no secret that the newspaper cost a few million francs a year. However, Michael Ringier remains confident that the financial gaps can now be closed.

Basler Zeitung is selling Radio Basel 1 to Medien für Erwachsene AG, which is majority-owned by entrepreneur Christian Heeb. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Baz intends to concentrate on its core journalistic business in future.
The sale is a reaction to the current difficult earnings situation on the advertising market, the two parties wrote in a joint press release on Wednesday. With the takeover of the station, Radio Basilisk founder Heeb and his partners are planning a change of concept and name. There are also plans to expand the editorial output. Further details will be announced at a later date.
The sale still has to be approved by the supervisory authority. A decision is expected before the summer vacation, the two parties write. The legally binding transfer of the license should then take place in late summer 2009. Until then, Radio Basel 1 will remain under the management of Basler Zeitung Medien.
Medien für Erwachsene AG did not receive an FM license from the Uvek in autumn 2008 and subsequently lodged an appeal with the Federal Administrative Court. After the sale was approved, MFE withdrew its appeal.

The Eclat agency has won three IF Design Awards in the Print Media, Corporate Communications category for the latest annual reports of Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank, BKW FMB Energie and Orell Füssli Holding.
This year, according to an Eclat press release, 1,368 entries from 24 countries were submitted to be judged by an international jury of designers, communication consultants and clients. 377 entries were awarded prizes. The award ceremony will take place in Munich on August 28, 2009.

The branding and design agency Facing has been running a packaging design unit since the beginning of May. Under the name "Packaging Pro", Facing is now offering packaging process management and is relying on Sarah Meili as the responsible consultant. During her many years working for clients and agencies, she has gained considerable experience in the field of packaging design.

In a two-page leaflet sent out on Tuesday and at a rally, the Tages-Anzeiger editorial team protested against the planned redundancies of more than a quarter of the Tagi editorial team, which equates to around 80 people or 57 full-time positions. The measure in the middle of the recession is "a mass redundancy in advance" and "without necessity". Tamedia is thus only increasing the profits of its owners and jeopardizing the credibility of the Tages-Anzeiger. At 12.00 noon on Tuesday, around 100 members of the editorial team also held a demonstration in front of the Tagi editorial office on Zurich's Werdstrasse. The redundancies will be announced from Wednesday to Friday, when every single employee will find out whether or not they are being made redundant.
" Imprint and Comedia: "A strong signal from the Tages-Anzeiger editorial team"
" Bund editorial team defends itself against staff cuts
The editorial team's criticism is primarily aimed at the discrepancy between Tamedia's huge investments on the one hand and the hasty job cuts on the other. Last year, the Group closed the year with deep black figures. At CHF 74.4 million, the Newspapers division made the largest contribution to the profit of CHF 105.8 million. In addition, CHF 42 million in dividends had been paid out, the Group was planning a new five-storey building with a star architect, and it had recently acquired Edipresse for CHF 226 million.
It is the first time in the history of the Tages-Anzeiger that it is in the red, said Daniel Suter from the staff committee in his speech on Tuesday. They are all aware that the subscription-based daily newspaper will have to make do with less advertising revenue in future, Suter continued. However, neither the current recession nor the development of the newspaper market called for such a cutback.
The letter also addresses the current problematic situation of the print business. It is acknowledged that the newspaper's crisis is not only due to a recession, but also to a structural change. Nevertheless, the editorial team demands respect from Tamedia for its employees at the Tages-Anzeiger, which has been the financial backbone of the Group for over 100 years. It is therefore calling on Tamedia to accept that the Tagi will be in the red for an appropriate transitional period of at least two years, to reduce or stagger job cuts, to fill vacancies at Tamedia internally and to consider short-time working.

" Leaflet front page
" Leaflet back