The course for the higher professional examination for communication managers has once again achieved a high success rate this year. After 75 percent in 2005 and 90 percent last year, this year 85 percent of the 43 participants from German- and French-speaking Switzerland successfully passed the exams and will receive their federal diploma on December 5. This shows that the communications business is becoming more and more female, as 22 of the 34 graduates are newly qualified communications managers.

 The long-running dispute between TSR television in French-speaking Switzerland and the French channel M6 (see ) is entering the next round. Since 2001, M6 has been broadcasting with two signals in parts of French-speaking Switzerland. The second signal broadcasts the Swiss advertising windows. In TSR's view, the broadcaster is infringing copyright and engaging in unfair competition with these advertising blocks aimed at the local market. In particular, M6 is thus exploiting the exclusive broadcasting rights acquired by TSR for Switzerland for various films and series.After the Fribourg cantonal court concluded in January that TSR could not take legal action against the alleged copyright infringement, the Federal Supreme Court has now upheld this decision following a preliminary ruling in the middle of the year (see
According to the ruling, TSR, as the licensee, may indeed bring a copyright action directly, but must be authorized to do so by the owners of the broadcasting rights. Moreover, French-speaking Swiss television is entitled to sue for violation of the Federal Act on Unfair Competition.
On the basis of this decision, the Fribourg judiciary must now deal with the case again.   

 The Swiss community platform Youme.net has now definitely been launched. The online social network platform, in which the publishing house Ringier is also involved, was already present with beta versions (see Ringier tests join-in web
). Now the final launch has taken place. On Youme.net, users can create their own profiles, form communities and get in touch with friends. Users can upload content on topics such as sport & lifestyle, art & entertainment, society & politics. Video clips, texts or images are shown and rated. An editorial team manages the platform and organizes competitions on topics such as design, music, film or comedy. In contrast to other online social networks, most of which originate from the USA, Youme.net claims to offer greater geographical, cultural and linguistic proximity. Around 1,000 members have registered in the beta phase, according to the operators.

 BSW, the association of leading advertising and communications agencies, published an agency ranking on Monday for the first time in five years. The ranking includes all BSW members with the exception of media agencies, which will publish their own ranking. As a result of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was passed in the USA following the collapse of Enron and Worldcom, the group companies of the international agency networks had prohibited their subsidiaries from publishing any key figures since 2002, which made it impossible to publish a meaningful ranking for the national associations.
Following the partial easing of sanctions, BSW Leading Swiss Agencies decided to resume the ranking. With a few exceptions, the majority of agencies agreed to the 2007 ranking and took part in it. The association hopes that all members will again be able to agree to the publication of their key figures in the near future.
According to BSW, the ranking serves primarily as a guide, but should not be understood as a ranking list, as is the case with a sporting event. In addition to qualitative aspects, factors such as the relative size of an agency or the resources available can also play a role for clients when choosing an agency.
The association highlights as remarkable the fact that among the top 10 agencies included in the ranking, 7 are also among the top 10 in the current creative ranking.
 

 
BSW announces cooperation with HWZIn order to meet the growing needs of the market and its members, the association has taken over the patronage of the "Certificate of Advanced Studies CAS Customer Communication" at the Zurich School of Business HWZ. It advises the university and course management on the design of the course program and is involved in the course with representatives from leading BSW agencies.
The close connection between the BSW and the SAWI, where many well-known representatives from association agencies work as lecturers, is not affected by the cooperation.

 The Swiss Fundraising Association will operate under new management from the beginning of 2008. The previous Managing Director Arthur Plotke is handing over his position to Roger Tinner, co-owner of the communications agency Freicom. Plotke will now concentrate on his role as Managing Director of Freicom Zurich, but plans to continue contributing his knowledge to the association via Freicom. Tinner has broad experience in the communications industry and in association work. In particular, he will be involved in the development of the association's strategy, which was approved by the Board of Directors at the end of September.

 The party portal Tilllate.com achieved an international reach of over two million unique clients for the first time in October. According to the site operators, this corresponds to growth of 64 percent since the beginning of the year. Tilllate.com recorded around 2.1 million unique clients internationally for the month of October. The visitor numbers are spread across ten European countries. The figures on unique clients come from Google Analytics for all countries with the exception of Switzerland. In Switzerland, Net-Metrix collects the visitor numbers. In this country, the Nightlife platform achieved 466,000 unique clients in September.
The number of employees increased in line with visitor numbers. In October, Tilllate had 56 full-time positions across Europe and employed 125 regional managers, most of them on a part-time basis. The IT, development and sales departments in particular were expanded. Around 1,500 active photographers work for the party portal internationally.

 In two new TV commercials for Interpharma/Vips, Jung von Matt/Limmat shows that, thanks to targeted research, potent drugs can be developed that can counteract a disease and thus improve quality of life. The basic idea of the TV commercials is based on the question: How can you recognize an improved quality of life? The patients themselves provide the answer: by confidently tackling new projects and making plans for the future. In order to underline the authenticity, no actors are in front of the camera in the commercials, but the affected patients themselves. The first commercial shows Edith Harenberg's project. Her impending blindness was not only stopped, but even reversed. This enabled her to sew a ball gown for her granddaughter. The second spot is dedicated to Federico Bizzarro, who is realizing his childhood dream and planning to sail around the world. Despite being diagnosed with lymphatic cancer.
Jung von Matt/Limmat is also realizing the Pharma-forschung.ch website for Interpharma/Vips. The aim of this site is to offer the public a contact point for all questions relating to pharmaceutical research in Switzerland.
Responsible at Interpharma/Vips:
Thomas B. Cueni (Secretary General Interpharma), Walter Hölzle (Managing Director Vips), Sandra Meier (Head of Communications Interpharma), Michelle Kindhauser (Communication Manager Interpharma), Martin Rubeli (Communications Officer Vips). Responsible at Jung von Matt/Limmat Werbung:
Tom Seinige (Creative Direction), Lukas Frei (Art Direction), Alexander Holtz (Text), Yves Gerteis (Graphics), Martin Samsel, Petra Gayko (Strategy, Consulting), Ilonka Galliard (FFF), Rosas'n'Co (Production), Borgato&Berté (Direction), White Horse Music (Music), JingleJungle (Sound), On Line Video 46 AG (Postproduction). Responsible at Jung von Matt/Limmat Digital Media:
Achim Jenner, Matthias Adolf (strategy, consulting).

 The SRG Audience Council is full of praise for the coverage of Swiss television and Radio DRS on election Sunday: in the opinion of the committee, both media managed the "election marathon" excellently, according to a statement. The Council praised the reporting and assessments as varied, informative, fast and reliable. A successful dramaturgy and a clear broadcasting concept helped viewers find their way around, the projections were correctly classified in the opinion of the Council and it rated the visual implementation with overview tables and graphics as convincing. The reporting from the regions was also well received by the Council. Although not all correspondents were equally professional, the many news flashes from the different parts of the country and regions gave the broadcast local color.
The work of Radio DRS also met with the approval of the Public Council: DRS 1 offered a "service complet", while DRS 3 provided information on the most important aspects of the elections without flooding listeners with election information. The Council also attested to the radio team's high level of professional expertise.
The audience members were not entirely unanimous about the added value of the expert panels. While some felt they provided additional information and new perspectives, others rated the knowledge gained as moderate.

 The first Swiss news radio station went on air at 6 a.m. sharp on Monday morning. The new station's program focuses on the latest news from the fields of politics, business, science, culture and society. During the day, a brief overview of the current news situation is given every quarter of an hour. Background reports and interviews are placed in between.
On Monday morning, the two candidates for the Council of States in Zurich, Ueli Maurer from the SVP and Verena Diener from the Green Liberal Party, had an argument. This was subsequently deepened in conversation with a journalist from the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
At lunchtime and in the evening, DRS 4 News will broadcast the existing information programs "Rendes-vous" and "Echo der Zeit" from Schweizer Radio DRS. In addition, live sports reporting in particular is to be expanded. With conference calls to football and ice hockey stadiums, the station aims to provide comprehensive information on the respective match days.
The program is broadcast in German-speaking Switzerland via DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting), cable, satellite and the Internet, but not via FM. The cable network operator Cablecom is adding DRS 4 News to its radio offering, which comprises over 40 stations. It replaces the previously analog Voice of America.

 The Lake Zurich magazine Seesicht has expanded its sales team and hired Marc Challandes as a new advertising consultant as of November 1. Challandes is a trained salesman and has successfully passed the exam to become a marketing planner with a federal certificate. At the same time, he also trained as a sales coordinator. Advertising sales are managed by Luciano Manuzzi. Together they look after the customers of the bi-monthly lifestyle magazine with a circulation of 25,000 copies. Seesicht will be published for the fifth year in 2008.

 The EasyFairs Packaging trade fair will soon be opening its doors for the second time. It will take place on November 7 and 8, 2007 at Lucerne's Allmend exhibition center. The two-day trade fair is bigger this year: the number of exhibitors has risen from 64 last year to over 100 companies and the exhibition space has increased by 20 percent. According to Gunnar Küchler, Managing Director of organizer EasyFairs Switzerland, the industry get-together is therefore fully booked.
With 40 trade fairs in nine countries, the company claims to be the largest European organizer in the packaging sector. The trade fair in Lucerne offers an overview of all areas of the packaging industry. In front of the EasyFairs LearnShops information stage, exhibitors and visitors can also listen to free presentations on current trends in the industry.

 November 5 is the European day of action for journalists. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is therefore calling on its member unions with the "Stand up for journalism" campaign to organize actions on Monday to defend the rights of journalists. The accelerated concentration of the media, the fact that marketing criteria are becoming increasingly important at the expense of editorial content, the personalization of information, the questioning of copyrights by publishers and the impairment of source protection by the police and judiciary - these are all attacks on the rights of journalists and ultimately on press freedom, according to a statement from EFJ member Comedia. The media union uses this occasion in a communiqué to once again appeal to the Swiss Press Association to seriously push ahead with the discussions regarding the renewal of the collective labor agreement.
The fact that there has no longer been a collective labor agreement for print media employees in German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino in Switzerland since January 1, 2004 means that journalists are increasingly less protected: "Without collective guarantees, insecurity and the risk of self-censorship endanger working conditions and freedom of expression," the press release states. Freedom of the press presupposes that media professionals can work according to binding rules.