The Sonntagszeitung has completely redesigned its website. The new online presence was created in collaboration with Wirz subsidiary Assai Interactive. In addition to selected topics from the print edition, users now have access to further information and multimedia content. For example, the website now has a news ticker, an agenda with events and cinema program, TV tips and a comprehensive weather service. The aim of the redesign was to build a bridge between the print and online editions.

 The Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television (UBI) has come to the conclusion that Swiss television engaged in surreptitious advertising during the America's Cup. SF spokesman Urs Durrer confirmed reports in the NZZ am Sonntag and Sonntagsblick that the UBI considers the use of the Alinghi logo on the microphones of Swiss television during the America's Cup to be surreptitious advertising. According to Durrer, the UBI came to the conclusion that the placement of the logo was not permissible and impaired the credibility of the presenter. In addition, a precedent could be set and a new advertising platform on microphones could emerge if the present case is not sanctioned.
 Swiss television had repeatedly broadcast programs from the Alinghi team's base camp during the sailing event in Valencia. For its part, it explained the case as an oversight. No money had been paid.
 
Two complaints against the Club program, which dealt with the struggling SP, were unsuccessful. The panel did not find the accusation that a party had been given an inadmissible advertising platform in the run-up to the national elections confirmed. 
 
 

 The protagonists of the US TV series "Desperate Housewives" like to resort to unconventional means to solve their problems. In the fight against skin ageing, however, the best-known "housewife" Teri Hatcher should rely solely on products from Hydroderm. Hatcher has a contract with Hydroderm, which has earned her 2.4 million dollars so far. However, the actress is now expected to pay this back: The company is accusing her of having advertised for a total of 17 other cosmetics companies and thus clearly breaching the contract. She denies everything. It is not known which product the actress is using to arm herself against the impending legal war. Manufacturers of products for thick skin can contact Hatcher's management immediately.
 
American talk show star Oprah Winfrey is currently running a very different kind of promotional campaign. She is accompanying Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on a multi-day campaign tour free of charge. In the city of Des Moines, Winfrey told a cheering crowd that she was campaigning for Obama because she was fed up with the status quo in Washington. No one else embodies the prospect of change as convincingly as he does. The senator has now made significant gains in the internal party race against his Senate colleague Hillary Clinton.

 The independent Geneva daily newspaper Le Courrier can breathe again: the campaign to save the financially ailing paper has been a success. A total of 170,000 francs was raised and 336 new subscribers were recruited. The editorial team thanked its donors in Saturday's edition. Among them is the City of Geneva with a significant contribution of 100,000 francs. At the end of November, the city parliament decided to support the newspaper, against the votes of the conservatives.
 
Le Courrier now has 9,880 subscriptions. The editorial team hopes to increase this figure to over 10,000 during the festive period. The newspaper's situation remains precarious due to low advertising income. Cost-cutting measures are planned for next year.

 The AZ Group is reportedly having difficulties enforcing the compulsory subscription for its new Sunday newspaper. According to a report in the NZZ am Sonntag, many subscribers to the Mitteland newspaper are currently threatening to cancel their subscriptions completely if they have no choice. Peter Wanner, publisher of the AZ Group, had planned to declare the new Sonntag newspaper compulsory for subscribers to his Mittelland-Zeitung. Now they are successfully fighting back: several of those affected - the number of complaints is in the per thousand range, said AZ press spokeswoman Eva Keller - have now been offered a decoupling of the daily and Sunday newspaper. However, the price of 395 francs remains unchanged. It will simply be extended by one month.

 The Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) has been awarded the "Master of Communication 2007". The DDPS received the prize as part of the "Corporate Media" media competition for the film productions of the Center for Electronic Media. The award ceremony took place on Friday at the Haus der Geschichte in Bonn.
 
The Center for Electronic Media (ZEM) has already won several awards at film festivals in Italy, Germany and the USA. The German Communication Award, which the ZEM is the first foreign institution to receive, is given to the ZEM for the media-based communication concept "Knowledge Management - savoir" and the cinematic applicant information of the Air Force "SPHAIR - Live your Dreams".

 Silvia Aeschbach, editor-in-chief at Blick, is to fall victim to the savings program at the tabloid. Ringier confirmed a corresponding report by Kleinreport at the request of SDA. The media company announced at the end of November that 9.8 jobs would be cut at the Blick Group. The job cuts are part of a cost-cutting program. This affects 18 employees.

 
The auction platform Ebay.ch claims to spare its customers the hustle and bustle of Christmas while still presenting thousands of gift ideas from all over the world. To communicate this stress-free pre-Christmas shopping, the Basel agency Favo had professional actors stage exaggerated everyday situations in public places. For example, a completely annoyed man flees from the Christmas hustle and bustle into the trees and can only be brought down again with the help of a psychiatrist who rushes over. Another tries in vain to get on a streetcar with a package that is far too long. After the performance, nurses handed out calming tea to passers-by with the advice of stress-free Christmas shopping on eBay. The campaign with a total of five subjects took place on four Saturdays in November in the cities of Basel, Bern and Zurich. 
Responsible at Ebay Switzerland:

Yves Mäder (Head of Marketing) and Michaela Götze (Internet Marketing/Project Management), responsible at Favo (idea and concept):
Daniel Comte, Noel Morganho (Creative Director), Eveline Arnold (Art Director), Armin Küste, Peter Liptak (Text/Concept), Heike Rindfleisch, Stefano Bucher (Consulting) and Marianne Zeller (Production) Responsible at Face AG for Communication Design (Realization):
Dan Furrer (Managing Director), Marc Schadegg (Consultant), Loredana de Luca and Manuela Furrer (Project Management). 

 

 
On January 1, 2008, Hans Kessler will hand over the management of Werner Druck in Basel to his son Roger Kessler. Hans Kessler has worked for the company since 1981 and has been the owner since 1993. When he reaches the age of 60, he will definitively hand over operational management and retire, but will remain associated with the company as a member of the Board of Directors. The 34-year-old Roger Kessler is a trained printer, attended the Skugra management school for the graphic arts industry and recently successfully passed the examination to become a federally certified sales manager. He is taking over 100 percent of Werner Druck. Werner Druck AG is a sheet-fed offset printing company for multicolored printed matter in the heart of Basel. The company is 100 percent family-owned and employs 45 people.

 
According to reports in Faz.net and Sueddeutsche.de, Claus Kleber received an offer from the Spiegel management on Friday afternoon to become the new editor-in-chief. The decision is now apparently up to him alone. This was first rumored, then ZDF confirmed a corresponding offer from Spiegel. Kleber has been editor-in-chief and presenter of "Heute-Journal" at ZDF since 2003.Kleber would be a surprising choice: among the many rumored names, he only appeared on the bill among insiders, according to the FAZ. In the end, only he and the editor-in-chief of Frankfurter Rundschau, Uwe Vorkötter, were still in the running. His deputy is to be Matthias Müller von Blumencron, former editor-in-chief of Spiegel Online. Martin Doerry will remain deputy Spiegel editor-in-chief as before, and there will also be a third deputy. According to Sueddeutsche.de, however, the spokeswoman for Spiegel-Verlag did not wish to comment on these personnel details.
The two main shareholders of Der Spiegel, Mitarbeiter KG (50.5 percent) and the publishing house Gruner + Jahr (25.5 percent), have agreed on Claus Kleber. According to reports, the heirs of magazine founder Rudolf Augstein did not support the decision.
According to information from Sueddeutsche.de, ZDF is now in talks with Kleber. According to reports, this also concerns Kleber's future salary. ZDF is therefore now considering what offers could be made to Kleber.
 
For Kleber, magazine journalism in the style of Der Spiegel is completely new territory. The journalist with a doctorate has been working in television for 31 years. He joined Südwestfunk as a freelancer and was soon promoted to studio manager in Constance. In 1986, he went to Washington as a radio correspondent. He later worked there as head of the ARD studio. He has now been working for Heute Journal for four years.
 
It is still unclear when Kleber will take up his new job and when Stefan Aust, who was editor-in-chief of Der Spiegel for 13 years, will officially have to leave.
 
 
 

The Wallisell advertising agency Draftfcb, part of the Draftfcb/Lowe Group, is using three devilish poster subjects to promote the latest production at Zurich's Rigiblick Theater. The play is called "Faust - A Love Story by J. W. v. Goethe. With the best songs from rock and pop". In keeping with the title, songs from AC/CD to Frank Zappa will guide the audience through the play from January at the Rigiblick. The three themes, which are aimed at both established and young theater audiences, will be on show from next week.

 TeleZüri has agreed a long-term cooperation with Schaffhauser Fernsehen if the Zurich regional broadcaster is awarded the TV license for the Zurich-North-Eastern Switzerland region. Schaffhauser Fernsehen, which belongs to the Meier & Cie. media company, would produce a daily information window for Schaffhausen in its own broadcasting studios if the license were awarded. With this collaboration, TeleZüri and Schaffhauser Fernsehen want to strengthen the regional anchoring of their TV offering, according to a press release. The Schaffhausen information window will report on Schaffhausen topics for ten minutes after the ZüriNews news program on TeleZüri. There are also plans for a weekly regional program and event-related special programs for the canton of Schaffhausen, which will also be produced by the editorial team of Schaffhausen Television. A joint advisory board will be responsible for the regional programs, which will be produced by the editorial team of Schaffhauser Fernsehen.
TeleZüri must offer an independent information window for the Schaffhausen region in accordance with the requirements of Bakom if it is awarded the license. Schaffhauser-Fernsehen editor-in-chief Norbert Neininger had already indicated to Werbewoche that he would like to work with one of the concession applicants (see
). Schaffhausen Television had originally planned to submit its own license application together with IP Multimedia and Ringier, but abandoned this project. Now the broadcaster has apparently come to an agreement with Tamedia.