Change for the American communications industry: Barack Obama has appointed Julius Genachowski as the new head of the U.S. telecommunications regulatory agency, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC deals with telecommunications issues and regulates media such as radio, television, satellite, and cable. Genachowski, a classmate of Obama’s at Harvard Law School, previously served as chief counsel to former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt during the Clinton administration.
Both industry and consumer representatives have reacted positively and are hoping for a more moderate approach, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. According to the news service Pressetext.ch In recent years, there has been a great deal of criticism of the FCC's strict enforcement policy and the fines running into the millions that were introduced under the Bush administration. As a result, U.S. broadcasters took the matter to court.
There were also positive reactions from the broadcasting industry. Although there had been some discussions between the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and Genachowski regarding payment for digital frequencies during Clinton’s administration, the NAB nevertheless described Genachowski as an excellent choice.
What can we expect from the new FCC chairman? In a technology proposal that Obama’s team released as early as 2007, he announced government plans to expand broadband Internet access. He also spoke out in favor of net neutrality, which, among other things, is intended to prevent providers from giving preferential treatment to certain data transfers at the expense of others. Last but not least, Obama advocates for stronger data protection. In particular, the controversial wiretapping measures introduced under Bush are to be publicly investigated.

Tele Ostschweiz (TVO) was able to significantly increase its viewer figures in the second half of 2008. The St. Gallen regional station's program was watched by an average of 101,200 people every day, an increase of 16% compared to the same period last year.
The figures are based on regular surveys conducted by Telecontrol. TVO Managing Director André Moesch attributes the higher viewer figures to improvements in the program, as the broadcaster, which belongs to the St. Galler Tagblatt, writes in a press release on Friday.
An appeal is pending before the Federal Administrative Court against the TVO license granted at the end of October 2008 for the next ten years. Tele Säntis initiator Günter Heuberger has challenged the license granted by the Uvek. The license is linked to fees of CHF 2.2 million per year. As soon as the concession decision is legally valid, Tele Ostschweiz intends to expand its program and create up to ten new jobs, the broadcaster continues.

The trade unions Impressum and Comedia are reacting to the planned job cuts at Baz. The redundancy plan that Basler Zeitung Medien (BZM) is proposing for the affected editors has not been negotiated for them, according to a statement. The social plan is based on the Viscom CLA and is therefore tailored to the printing industry in particular and not to the specific circumstances of journalists. Furthermore, the procedure had not been negotiated with either the editorial commission or the trade unions.
In addition, the social plan provides for massive deterioration compared to previous social plans at Baz. For example, for older employees who have not yet reached the early retirement age of 60 and have been employed for eight years, the redundancy plan only provides for an extended notice period of one month as severance pay (plus the option of taking time off to take into account replacement income). If the employee remains unemployed, they will not receive any further compensation benefits from the social plan.
Impressum is asking the management of Baz to address the concerns of the editorial team and to negotiate a socially acceptable solution together with them and the associations. The union also reserves the right to review compliance with the provisions on collective redundancies.

The Board of Directors of News 1 has appointed Oliver Käsermann as Managing Director. Käsermann will take up his position on April 1, 2009. The previous project manager Sam Müller will retire in April, leaving the development of News1.ch but on a reduced scale.
Oliver Käsermann studied business administration at the University of Bern, majoring in marketing and graduating with a degree in economics. After starting out in the e-business environment at Swissair, where he helped to set up the Beyoo Internet travel portal, among other things, the 38-year-old has held various positions at Cablecom since 2003. Most recently, he was responsible for the specification and development of complex Internet applications. As News 1 writes in a press release on Friday, he has built up numerous Internet portals over the last ten years.
It is still unclear when the news platform of the six regional publishers (Schaffhauser Nachrichten, St. Galler Tagblatt, Mittelland Zeitung, Südostschweiz, Zürichsee Zeitung, Neue Luzerner Zeitung) will definitely go live. When asked by Werbewoche on Friday, no concrete answer could be given.

Dialog and online agencies Ogilvy One and Ogilvy Interactive made the John Caples Awards shortlist with their integrated campaign for Alfa Romeo, "Are you an Alfista?" The campaign played with the Rorschach test, which was featured on banners, emailings and Google Ads. Offline, newspaper ads, a radio spot and a mailing to Alfa drivers were used. All measures led the target group to an Internet platform on which Alfa Romeo dealers had listed a number of models at special conditions.
Whether the campaign will be awarded precious metal by the jury at the creative advertising festival for dialog marketing will be decided in the coming weeks and will be announced on the occasion of the Award Night on March 19, 2009 in New York.

Responsible at Alfa Romeo: Maria Curto (Marketing Communication Manager) and Maurizio Melzi (Marketing Manager). Responsible at Ogilvy One/Ogilvy Interactive: Barbara Dürst (Managing Director), Stefan Schäfer (Online), Oliver Glitz (CD, Text) and Bettina Klossner (Art).

The Alfa Romeo microsite.

In order to finance the planned television reform in France, the fees for users are to be increased from 116 to 120 euros (177 francs) per year. The senators voted in favor by a large majority. President Nicolas Sarkozy had initially ruled out the possibility of consumers financing the reform through higher fees. However, the senators argued that the fees in France were still comparatively low.
Among other things, the new law provides for the gradual abolition of advertising on public television. However, this means that the broadcasters will lose a large proportion of their income. The state has therefore pledged to reimburse the public broadcasters 450 million euros. However, it is still unclear exactly how this is to be financed.
Sarkozy wanted to raise the standard of state television and reduce "quota dependency" by changing the law. Since the beginning of January, there has been no advertising on French state television after 8 p.m., although the law is not yet in force. It is due to go to the conciliation committee at the end of January.

Publicis has designed a festive anniversary magazine for St. Moritz Polo to mark the 25th Cartier Polo World Cup on Snow. In a press release, the agency writes that the magazine should not simply be dominated by the well-known St. Moritz clichés such as champagne, caviar and partying, but should instead focus on the dynamics of the sport of polo.
In terms of design, the focus was on generosity. A fresh layout is intended to emphasize the elegance of the sport and reflect a clear winter day in St. Moritz. In addition to the printed edition, an online version is available at Polostmoritz.com.
To accompany the magazine, the advertising agency developed an anniversary logo in the same look, advertisements for special interest magazines and posters for the St. Moritz Design Gallery as well as the notice board in St. Moritz.

Responsible at St. Moritz Polo: Siro Barino (Head of Corporate Communications), Stefan Mathys (Head of Media Relations), Sibylle Bitterli (Head of Projects and Development). Responsible at Publicis: Ralph Halder (CD), Raphael Monsch (AD), Valentin Celi (graphics), Christian Siegrist, Charlotte Hottinger (consulting), Adrian Haeni, Andrea Achermann, Philipp Zubler, Philipp Laederach (realization/DTP), Andreas Caruso (production), Suzanne Kovacevic (art buying). Photography: Andri Pol.

The Raël sect has lost its dispute with the Fribourg daily newspaper La Liberté over the article "Cafés of femininity" published in April 2005. The Federal Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of the UFO sect, thus confirming the decision of the Vaud cantonal court.
The newspaper article by La Liberté revealed that two women from the Raël sect were behind the "Cafés of Femininity" series of events. The article also provided information about the sect's ideology, which preaches, among other things, the sexual subordination of women. In 2007, the Vaud cantonal court came to the conclusion that the sexual subordination of women was evident from the Raël writings and that the publication of this fact was in the public interest against the background of the series of events.
Another point of contention concerned the fact that La Liberté claimed that the Raël sect theoretically advocated paedophilia and incest in its writings. The sect's personality had thus been violated. The Lausanne judges agreed with the accusation, but conceded that the error had been corrected by the newspaper.

Rivella will be relying on the ideas of the Walker advertising agency in future. The Zurich-based creatives were awarded the contract for the traditional Swiss brand following a multi-stage agency evaluation. The fizzy drinks manufacturer was previously looked after by Büro Reinhold.
Rivella looks back on 50 years of advertising history and is one of the top 20 power brands in Switzerland according to the Brand Asset Valuator. In the IHA-GfK image barometer, Rivella is ranked second among all Swiss brands
Company.
The agency is delighted with the account, as Rivella is one of the clients that Pius Walker put on his list of ten dream brands when he founded the agency, the communications company wrote in a press release on Friday.
The first works will be on display in the first half of 2009.

The Public Eye Awards set a critical counterpoint to the annual Wef in Davos and take aim at companies with business practices that are contemptuous of people and the environment. Startbahnwest came out on top in a pitch for communications for the event. The agency has developed a campaign to encourage as many people as possible to vote: From now on, the worst companies can be nominated for a vituperative award via Publiceye.ch, as well as the most exemplary companies for the Public Eye Positive Award.
The campaign's subjects use a voodoo doll to draw attention to companies with nasty business practices. From "climate killers" to "poisoners" to "bloodsuckers," companies are represented, the agency writes in a media release. The central element of the campaign is the website. In addition, banners, newsletters, advertisements and viral communication measures are used.
The Public Eye Awards will be held for the tenth time in 2009 under the auspices of the Berne Declaration (EvB). Greenpeace Switzerland is the new partner organization. The awards ceremony in the four categories Global, Swiss, Positive and People's Award will take place in Davos on January 28, 2009, with the participation of satirists Beat Schlatter and Patrick Frey and rapper Greis. Bond villain Anatol Taubmann will conduct the ceremony.

Responsible at EvB: Oliver Classen (Media Spokesperson/Public Eye Coordinator), Roseli Ferreira, Katharina Morawietz, Susanne Rudolf (Online Editorial Office), Angela Brunner (Intern). Responsible at Greenpeace Switzerland: Swati Jangle (Marketing Communications Manager). Responsible at Runway West:
Hartmut Vetter (Strategic Planning), Nicole Schnell (Consulting), Rüdiger Flothmann (CD), Gesine Dittrich (AD), Natasa Maricic (Text), Joely Tafanalo (DTP). Illustration: Gian Klainguti, Oliver Conrad (Kompost NYC). Programming website George Fraefel (Bestview).

The media group LZ Medien Holding (Neue Luzerner Zeitung) is taking over the Zurich-based publishing house Tourism Trend Media (TT Media) with retroactive effect from the beginning of 2009. The specialist publisher for the Swiss travel and tourism industry publishes the magazines "Schweizer Touristik", "Reise Blick" and "Art und Reise".
TT Media was already 25 percent owned by LZ Medien. The acquired publishing house will now be merged with LZ Fachverlag. Erwin Bachmann, CEO of LZ Medien Holding, was quoted in a press release on Friday as saying that the complete takeover would enable the publishing house to expand with strong specialist magazines. The new structure will also enable cost-efficient production.
TT Media owners Franz-Xaver Risi, Editor-in-Chief, and Guido Käppeli, Publishing Director, will retain their positions. The number of employees and the Zurich location will also remain unchanged. Daniel Ettlinger will remain Managing Director of LZ Fachverlag.

Launched in January 2008, the Freelancerportal.ch is expanding its offering: the previous full portrait with CV, agenda and examples of work, which is of particular interest to creative professionals, is now being supplemented by a light version. This only contains the freelancer's personal details, career and agenda. This is intended to appeal to freelancers who are unable or unwilling to present their work. The new light version is particularly suitable for freelance consultants, according to a press release. A year's presence costs around 350 francs.
Freelancerportal.ch offers freelancers in the communications industry a professionally designed website that they can update themselves at any time. More than 40 freelancers now present themselves on the platform, and agencies can access it if required. The portal is supported by Werbewoche. The Zurich agency Ruf Lanz takes care of PR matters.