The Sonntag newspaper has a new website: In addition to news from business, politics and society Sonntagonline.ch offer the reader interactivity above all. In future, certain articles in the printed edition will feature an online logo, an invitation to readers to join in discussions, comment on the news and read assessments and comments from the editorial team, according to an article in Sunday's newspaper.
Editors such as Arthur Rutishauser and celebrities from the worlds of business, politics and entertainment also write in a blog. The new lifestyle magazine Style by Tanja Gutmann rounds off the offering. The article quotes Patrik Müller, Editor-in-Chief of Sonntag, as saying that regular online use will be supported by competitions, interactive functions and the e-paper, among other things.
The head of the new portal is Sacha Ercolani, who has been responsible for show and society reports since the launch of the new Sonntagszeitung in fall 2007. On the publishing side, Tanja Laube has been involved in the realization.

The communications agency Future Connection has designed and implemented a new homepage for the MGM Group Corporation. The website has been completely redesigned and adapted to the corporate identity. The site provides information on products, suppliers and trends from the international food sector, as the agency writes in a press release.

Axel Springer Switzerland has made personnel changes in the TV Magazine division. As of April 1, the publishing and marketing management is to be strengthened.
As the publisher announced on Monday, Marie-Anne Cobigo, previously Head of Marketing for TV Magazines, will take over the newly created position of Deputy Head of Publishing for TV Magazines at Axel Springer. Michael Ebnöther, previously Head of Reader Marketing at the business magazine BILANZ, which is also published by Axel Springer Switzerland, will become Head of Marketing TV Magazines. Jörg Tobuschat, Member of the Management Board and Publishing Director of TV Magazines, will also take over as Publishing Director for the entire business media division as of April 1.
Consolidation of the financial divisions
With the appointment of Lothar Lanz as the new Chief Financial and Services Officer, all financial areas of Axel Springer will be brought together under his leadership as of May 1, 2009. Jörg Schweikart will continue to be responsible for Controlling, M&A, Legal and Corporate Development within this Executive Board division and will act as his deputy in Lothar Lanz's absence. The aim of this measure is to improve the framework conditions for even more effective cooperation, particularly with regard to external and internal accounting, as Springer writes in a press release.

Cabelcom is further expanding its digital TV offering. On Tuesday, March 17, 16 new TV channels will be added to the basic offering. As part of a continuous expansion of the offering, numerous new channels will be available in German-speaking Switzerland, as the Swiss cable network company announces on its homepage. The focus is on English-language programs.
The new channels BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC and CBeebies will complement the public digital channels from the UK and primarily provide culture and documentaries as well as children's programs. From Tuesday, the two digital channels E4 and More 4 will offer an expanded basic offering in the categories of comedy, movies, series and sport, while the channels ITV 3 and ITV 4 will focus on the categories of series and sport, according to Cablecom. In addition to the English-language channels, the ZDF Infokanal and Eins Extra will also be available.

Poster advertising is breaking new ground: at a bus stop in Amsterdam, a display board has been transformed into a scale. As soon as a waiting person sits down on the bench at the bus stop, their weight appears on the digital display. A sports studio chain that offers special training for women wants to encourage more fitness. It is unclear whether the scales really determine the weight of passers-by or whether a fictitious measurement is simply displayed.
The advertising idea is unlikely to please everyone - who wouldn't be embarrassed to have their extra pounds on show like this? To the delight of the advertising industry, however, the concept also seems to be ideal for other applications. For example, it is quite conceivable that it could be used in elevators: if the load is too heavy, the elevator won't transport anyone, so you have to climb the stairs on foot... It will be interesting to see what the Dutch advertising professionals come up with next.

The US media group Time Warner wants to stop the years-long decline of its Internet business AOL with a high-ranking Google manager. The company has brought in 37-year-old Google Vice President Tim Armstrong as the new strong man for the Internet division. Not only did the previous AOL boss Randy Falco have to vacate his position, but also Ron Grant, who was responsible for the operational business.
Time Warner has been dissatisfied with the development of AOL for years. The company, which grew up as a provider of Internet access, has so far tried to earn money with online advertising with little success. Last year, turnover fell by 20 percent. Time Warner was already considering whether it could get rid of the division, but negotiations about a partnership with the internet group Yahoo were unsuccessful.

(Image: Keystone)

The staff of Tele Bärn will receive higher wages from April 1, 2009. The owner of the local station, Espace Media, is increasing the gross wage bill by a one-off 5.3 percent. A study has shown that certain wages at the Bernese local broadcaster are below the industry average, as the media group writes in a press release on Friday. Salaries will now be adjusted upwards after taking into account the individual performance, experience and training of employees.
Last fall, employees of the TV station demanded better working conditions and further training opportunities. The staff complained that there were salary differences between Tele Bärn and Tele Züri. After the takeover of Espace Media Groupe by Tamedia, these differences would have to be eliminated, they said at the time.

Public service is being expanded
After the local broadcaster received a new broadcasting license with a fee component from the federal government in June 2008, Tele Bärn now intends to expand its public service offering in the coming months. In the current year, all broadcasts will be converted to the new 16:9 format and the news program will be given a new look, the press release continues. The Tele Bärn newsroom and the live presence in the region are to be strengthened. The expansion should lead to an increase in usage and higher advertising revenue.

On Wednesday, March 18, 2009, the SRG Board of Directors will vote on Armin Walpen's plans to merge Radio DRS and Swiss Television. In his report "Media convergence and economic efficiency", Walpen proposes television director Ingrid Deltenre as the new CEO for radio and television - without even advertising the position. However, following protests from Media Minister Leuenberger and radio employees, the SRG Director General abandons his plan. Nevertheless, the position is now to be advertised publicly, as the NZZ am Sonntag writes.
According to the SRG report, the planned merger will reduce costs by up to CHF 20 million by exploiting synergies, for example in buildings and technology. Both television and radio are to retain their locations and their own editors-in-chief. However, the sports, education, children's and possibly culture departments will be merged, according to a report in the Sonntag newspaper. A joint website is also planned.
SRG will have to invest around CHF 46.6 million in buildings and technology for the planned convergence. According to the report, there are also project costs of CHF 5.5 million.

(Image: Keystone)

On the occasion of International Consumer Rights Day on March 15, 2009, the Foundation for Consumer Protection is calling for better protection of children and adolescents from intrusive advertising. Similar to the restrictions on tobacco advertising, advertising aimed at children should also be subject to specific rules. In the food sector, the Foundation notes in a press release that predominantly unhealthy products—those that are too sweet, too fatty, or too salty—are heavily advertised.
The three Swiss consumer organizations—ACSI, FRC, and SKS—are calling for a ban on advertising in schools. They also want to see a ban on contests, prize draws, and giveaways, as well as direct calls to purchase. Consumer advocate Sara Stalder is also calling for a ban on TV advertising for unhealthy foods between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., as she told the newspaper Sonntag.
The Foundation for Consumer Protection is thus joining an international petition that already includes 220 consumer organizations from 115 countries. Swiss consumer organizations have now submitted corresponding proposals to the Fair Trading Commission.

Robert Furger, CEO of Räber Information, the operator of the online portal Search.ch, will be leaving the company in the course of summer 2009. Furger took over as CEO in spring 2004. Under his leadership, the business activities of the search portal were greatly expanded, both in terms of users and customers. After more than five years at Search.ch, Furger is looking for a new direction, the company wrote in a press release on Friday. Robert Furger's successor will be announced in due course.

The merger of the media union Comedia, the communications union Geko and the Association of Public Service Employees Vpod is not to be pursued further. At its meeting on Friday, March 13, the project management decided to submit a proposal to the responsible decision-making bodies of the three unions to discontinue the merger project.
Comedia, Geko and Vpod launched the idea of a merger in their organizations with a project outline at the end of February 2008. The preliminary examination that has since been carried out has now revealed that the structures and needs of the three trade unions, with a total of around 85,000 members, are too different.
as the three unions announced in a communiqué.
Geko (postal services, telecommunications) and Comedia (graphic arts industry, press and electronic media, book trade) are primarily active in sectors with nationally active companies or nationally or supra-regionally oriented collective employment agreements. They therefore require an organization geared towards centralized movement and negotiation management, which is primarily oriented towards sectors. The trade union Vpod (public services, health, social and education services), on the other hand, mainly organizes the staff of regional or local employers who are active across sectors, which requires different organizational principles in terms of movement and negotiation management. Based on these facts, both the project committee and the relevant project management came to the conclusion that the proposed three-way merger would not achieve the necessary and desired synergies to strengthen the movement, the press release continues.
The relevant committees of the three unions will now make a final decision on the application. Where there are points of contact and intersection, the three unions want to continue and intensify cooperation in trade union action and movement on a case-by-case basis. The managements of Geko and Comedia have also agreed to further examine the merger of their organizations and to submit the option of a two-way merger to their management bodies.

Since March, the Publi Groupe company Namics has had a new head on its creative team. After twelve years at the Strichpunkt agency in Stuttgart, Felix Widmaier decided to move to Namics in Switzerland. As a Senior Consultant, he focuses on creation and brand processes.
Communications designer Felix Widmaier has worked on projects for Daimler/Mercedes Benz, the AMG Driving Academy and BASF, among others. His experience covers brand processes and brand management, image communication as well as financial and sustainability communication. His work has been recognized with numerous awards, including from the Type Directors Club NY, the ADC and the Epica Awards. This year, Strichpunkt, the agency he previously managed, received the Red Dot Agency of the Year award. He worked at Strichpunkt before, during and after his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart. Initially as a designer, later as Art Director, Creative Director and Managing Director.