The crew of the news network of Tamedia, Basler Zeitung Medien and Berner Zeitung gave a foretaste of what surfers can expect from the launch date of August 8. They tested the new version of Tages-Anzeiger.ch over lunchtime on Thursday. The aim was to test the capacity of the website in real-life use, Newsnetz editor-in-chief Peter Wälty told Werbewoche. It was not the intention to make users curious about the new website - "but if that is how it is perceived, then I am pleased", said Wälty. He was generally satisfied with the test, even if the site was online half an hour later than announced. "We didn't expect everything to work right away anyway," explained the editor-in-chief. A second test is planned. Whether this will also include Baz.ch and Bernerzeitung.ch is still open. Editorial team not complete until October The new Tagesanzeiger.ch site features a generous design, large images and an unusually large font size, which has been very well received in usability tests. "In some respects, we are a little bigger than others. 'Size matters' could be our claim," joked Wälty. However, the online offering is actually advertised with the slogan "Don't miss a thing". According to the editor-in-chief, the increase in editorial output will be more striking than the visual changes. After all, the editorial team will have an impressive capacity with 30 positions in the main editorial office and six to ten positions in each of the regional editorial offices in Zurich, Bern and Basel. However, the team is not yet complete. According to Wälty, there are currently around twelve people on board and the editorial team will be fully staffed at the beginning of October. In addition to the team, the range of services on the website is also set to grow after the launch: "Not all the features we want to offer will be online at the start. We will gradually announce and launch new features."
SFLB campaign The Newsnetz will not have its own URL, but will distribute its content under the existing addresses Tagesanzeiger.ch, Bernerzeitung.ch and Baz.ch. However, the media data will be available on the Newsnetz.ch website. A reader market campaign and a B2B campaign will promote the new online offering. It comes from the kitchen of Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett, which also advertises for the Tages-Anzeiger.
Only ten percent double users The Newsnetz is marketed as a complete package, as advertising market manager Dominik Lämmler explained to Werbewoche. "Until now, we had the Metropool Online combination, which went very well. Now we will market the three websites as if it were just one - with sub-categories, although you can of course still book each site individually." The three websites are already reported by Net-Metrix as a news network; the figures provide information on the adjusted net reach. "I am pleasantly surprised by how low the duplicate usage is: Only around ten percent use more than one of the three websites," says Lämmler. Apparently, users are seeking information specifically from their local medium.

 The Talent Screen festival for young filmmakers is taking place for the fourth time at Zurich's Gessnerallee. From August 29 to September 5, young filmmakers can showcase their talent in five different categories. The festival kicks off on Friday, August 29 at 12 noon with the announcement of the theme for the Movie Marathon. From this point on, the filmmakers have 48 hours to produce a complete short film. A jury headed by director Oliver Rihs will select the ten best films. These will be shown at the Gessnerallee on September 5 and judged by the audience.
New to the program this year is the Script Academy, a two-day workshop for aspiring screenwriters. Another program item is the Pitch Kitchen, where six writers can cook for various screenwriters and have the opportunity to elicit their best writing recipes. At the Pitch Café, eight participants can present their screenplay ideas in a speed-dating session with Swiss producers. Screenwriters can compete in a direct duel on stage in the Pitch Battle. Two people compete against each other and try to win over the audience for themselves and their screenplay.
The final with the award ceremonies will take place on September 5 at the Gessnerallee. The total prize money amounts to over CHF 30,000 and is co-financed by Swiss television and the film distributor and cinema operator Pathé, among others.
Pre-registrations and accreditations for the start event of the Movie Marathon and the final event on September 5 will be accepted by e-mail (
).

 Customers can now deliver their commercials digitally to the marketer and Goldbach Media subsidiary IP Multimedia. This could save advertising customers and their post-production companies time, according to a press release. Consumer goods manufacturer Procter & Gamble was one of the first customers to make use of this offer for the Swiss advertising windows of MTV, NICK, RTL, RTL II, Super RTL and Viva Switzerland. Depending on the broadcaster, digital transmission is carried out by uploading an Mpeg2 file directly to an FTP server or via the web interface of the logistics companies Adstream or IMD.

 The IT and web services company Namics, which belongs to Publigroupe, has created a new website for each of the investment companies BB Biotech and BB Medtech. Shareholders of the two companies can now find out about share prices and net asset values online, as detailed in a press release issued on Thursday. At the same time, potential investors will be able to obtain background information on the biotechnology and medical technology sectors.

 The dispute over Chinese internet censorship during the Olympic Games continues: The spokesman for the Chinese organizing committee, Sun Weide, reiterated on Thursday that Beijing would stick to its measures. Only some websites will be blocked, Weide was quoted as saying by SDA. Like other countries, China controls the Internet in accordance with national laws. It does not allow websites that spread illegal news or harm the national interest. On Wednesday, Beijing had admitted to restricting Internet access for foreign journalists, contrary to earlier promises (see ). The human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) held the International Olympic Committee (IOC) partly responsible for the censorship. The IOC had failed with its principle of "quiet diplomacy", said AI China expert Verena Harpe. There had been a window of opportunity in which it was clear how important it was to the Chinese that the Games succeed. The IOC should have exerted pressure during this window of opportunity, but it did not do so. The international journalist organizations RSF and the International Federation of Journalists also protested against the censorship.

 Google is now providing route descriptions and public transport timetables for people on the move in Switzerland via Google Maps Mobile. With this release, transportation information is available on Nokia S60, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and most Java-enabled cell phones. Google Maps Mobile was already free to download. The new service should make it easier to find your way to a restaurant on the other side of town or the shortest route home by public transport, as the search engine giant promises in a press release.

Epson is inviting entries for the Epson Art Photo Award for the fourth time. All classes of photography-specific courses of study and other educational paths with a focus on photography/art can submit their current work until January 31, 2009. There are no thematic or geographical restrictions and the prize is endowed with a total of 37,500 euros. In addition, the pictures of the best class or group, the best artist and the 25 other best works from all group entries will be presented at Art Cologne from April 22 to 26, 2009.
Registration for the Epson Art Photo Award 2009 is only possible
. The winners of last year's award can also be seen there.

 Anyone who was annoyed by the football commentators at the Euro will have the opportunity to watch pure sport during the Olympic Games: In addition to the two programs taken over from SF two, "Peking aktuell" and "Peking lounge", HD suisse will also broadcast uncommented broadcasts. During the day, "image-attractive sports" can be seen, according to SF. These include the athletics finals, sailing, swimming and basketball. Up to 17 hours of live sport are shown daily on HD suisse. Because the broadcasts are uncommented for logistical and financial reasons, SF refers to them as "Beijing View", analogous to the helicopter flyover program "Swiss View". The usual information is shown, such as the start lists, split times, results and the names of the competitors. The live competition broadcasts on HD Suisse will begin between 01:20 and 04:00 in the night and end at around 18:00 due to the international time difference for the Swiss audience. The offer on HD Suisse complements the coverage on SF zwei. In total, the two channels will show over 30 hours of live broadcasts from Beijing every day.

 Telecoms supplier Ascom has been awarded a contract by Canadian communications group Mitel with an annual sales volume "in the mid to high single-digit millions". According to SDA, the contract awarded to Ascom Wireless Solutions covers the design, development, manufacture and delivery of a complete range of wireless handsets for business use based on the Dect and WiFi standard, as well as IP Dect infrastructure with corresponding accessories.

 The outdoor advertising group Affichage suffered a slump in profits in the first half of the year. Sales rose by 38.0 percent to CHF 222.9 million thanks to acquisitions abroad and good business with the European Football Championships. However, profit fell by almost a quarter to CHF 15.1 million. The operating result at EBIT level improved by 3.9 percent to 24.8 million francs, as Affichage announced on Wednesday. However, the corresponding margin fell from 14.8 to 11.1 percent. The operating result before acquisition-related amortization (Ebita) rose by 14.7 percent to 28.5 million francs. One reason for the fall in profit was the increase in amortization of intangible assets, the report continues. This rose from CHF 1.0 million to CHF 3.7 million. 
The company posted a loss of CHF 1.0 million for the financial result, following a positive result of CHF 2.86 million in the same period of the previous year. Affichage cites currency losses and increased interest expenses as the reasons for the poor result.
The home market of Switzerland recorded an organic increase in sales revenue of 6.6% to CHF 152.9 million. The company benefited from the European Football Championships and the generally positive market environment.
In international business, turnover rose from 18.1% to 39.4% thanks to acquisitions. This corresponds to 31.4 percent of total Group sales. While the sales trend was particularly pleasing in Bosnia, Italy and Hungary, business in Greece was difficult, according to the press release. Affichage Hellas has had a difficult start to the current year, accompanied by a fierce price war. However, the new management team has already achieved a significant increase in the second quarter.
Affichage is cautious about the rest of the year. The first signs of an economic slowdown are noticeable in Switzerland. The short-term booking behavior of customers makes forecasts for the second half of the year difficult. However, growth is expected to continue abroad.
 

Despite the financial crisis and record gasoline prices, the Swiss are still in a buying mood. Retailers achieved a 4.6 percent increase in sales to 19.2 billion Swiss francs in the first half of 2008. The year-on-year increase of 837 million Swiss francs came primarily from food products, sales of which rose by 6.1 percent to 11.1 billion Swiss francs. This is shown by a survey of 19 retailers conducted by the market research institute GfK.So-called convenience products such as ready meals, pre-packed sandwiches, ready-made salads and salad dressings (+11.4 percent) are becoming increasingly popular. Bread (+8.8 percent) and dairy products (+6.7 percent) also recorded significantly higher sales.The non-food market achieved an overall increase of 2 percent in the first half of 2008. Sales of detergents, cleaning products, personal care and pet food increased by 3.4 percent. Sales of furniture, household and garden products and stationery rose by 3.5 percent.Euro 08 kept the beer flowing The European Football Championship helped to boost sales of beer, sausages and potato chips: In June, 15 percent more beer flowed down throats than in the same month last year. In addition, 11 percent more sausages and 9 percent more potato chips were eaten.Sales of sporting goods soared by 15 percent in June. Sales of bags and backpacks were 18 percent higher than in June 2007, but TV retailers were left out in the cold: sales of TV and video sets fell by 3 percent in June. Photo cameras even slumped by a quarter. Despite the pre-European soccer championship advertising buzz, only 4 percent more TVs and video sets crossed the counter in the entire first half of the year. Camera retailers had to cope with a drop of 9 percent.

 The British broadcaster BBC has to pay another heavy fine for manipulating call-in broadcasts. The media regulator Ofcom imposed a fine of 400,000 pounds, the equivalent of around 830,000 francs, on the broadcaster on Wednesday. According to SDA, the BBC had "misled" its audience by deliberately presenting false winners and "unfairly" presenting programs. The broadcaster has never had to pay such a high fine before. In several television and radio shows, the BBC is said to have asked viewers or listeners to take part in competitions even though the candidates had already been decided.
Other shows were pre-recorded and winners selected in advance so that no one could win live. The accusation concerns well-known programs in the UK from previous years such as "Comic Relief", "Sport Relief" and "Children in Need". The BBC accepted the penalty and regretted the "serious breaches".
Just last year, the BBC had to pay a fine of 50,000 pounds (103,500 francs). In this case, winners were presented in prize shows in which viewers could call in who had not actually called in.