Former Sat.1 presenters criticize the German channel after it reorganized its programming, cut jobs and took over the broadcast of the Tour de France (see ). The station has "fallen into the hands of locusts", said former "Talk im Turm" presenter Erich Böhme to Stern.de. "They have eaten all the leaves and not fertilized. They want to make a quick euro, that's going down the drain." He condemns the fact that Sat.1 is broadcasting the Tour de France after ARD and ZDF had stopped their coverage: "You can't get any lower". Margarethe Schreinemakers, who presented "Schreinemakers live" on Sat.1 from 1992 to 1996, is also critical. Although revenue was also important in her time, she said, her show was also constantly reinvested in. You can also advance a station through investment by promoting its driving forces. "But you can't do that if, like now at Sat.1, you have shareholders breathing down your neck who are only interested in quick returns," said Schreinemakers.
The broadcast of the Tour de France has so far not been a ratings success for Sat.1. The market share on Sunday was 4.8 percent and thus below the average daily market share of 6.7 percent, according to Netzeitung. In the advertising-relevant group of viewers aged 14 to 49, Sat1 achieved a market share of 4.6 percent on Sunday, which is nowhere near the daily average of 8.9 percent.

 Maria Amalia López from the northwest of Spain wrote last December: "Friends of the Internet, today is my 95th birthday. It's my birthday and my stingy grandson has given me a blog." These words marked the start of an unusual career. She started her new Internet diary with these words. She wrote about her youth, home and the life of a lady over 90. She would have been delighted to have a few people her age as readers. But things turned out differently: she is now known to hundreds of thousands of Internet surfers as the "oldest blogger in the world". The internet diary "A mis 95 años" has gone from an insider tip to a crowd puller in just a few months, especially in the Spanish-speaking world. Major Spanish daily newspapers such as El País and El Mundo have discovered the blog granny. Eager readers translate some entries into other languages. However, there is only one post in German. She set a trend with her blog and has already had to relinquish the title of oldest blogger: 108-year-old Australian Olive Riley has been reporting on her life online since February.

According to the GEMI, advertising pressure in electronic media continued to grow at an above-average rate in June. According to the Goldbach Electronic Media Index (GEMI), advertising pressure in electronic media continued to grow at an above-average rate in June, increasing by two index points. In contrast, online display advertising, as recorded by Media Focus, showed a dip of two index points.
TV crowned the first half of 2007 with a further increase of three index points to 386, according to the Goldbach Media Group press release. After an apparent springtime slump, radio can also boast an increase of one index point to 261. Teletext recorded an increase of the same magnitude to 140 index points. Internet, on the other hand, lost two index points to 256 in the so-called display advertising segment. This means that the advertising pressure of e-media recorded by Media Focus increased by a total of two index points from 375 to 377 in June.
Compared to the e-media, the overall market rose by one index point to 188, an increase of eight index points in the first half of 2007, while the e-media gained 22 index points.

 
Zürcher Kantonalbank has a new face on the Internet. In addition to aesthetic aspects, the bank has set a milestone in terms of user-friendliness for people with disabilities. The website was designed by Metadesign, a Zurich-based agency specializing in branding and design, and went online after a good year of implementation. During this time, MetaDesign developed the concept for a complete new online presence in close collaboration with Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB), usability experts and a technical implementation partner, according to a press release.
The agency for branding and corporate identity was awarded the contract because, according to ZKB, it was able to translate the brand promise "The close bank" and the corresponding brand values into a clear design principle. It was very important to both the client and the agency commissioned to realize an online presence that also provides easy access for people with disabilities. As Co-Managing Director Bruno Schmidt explained to Werbewoche, functions have been added that enable blind and motor-impaired people, among others, to make optimum use of the website. For example, the font size can be adjusted to suit visual performance. The site is also compatible with special Brwoser tools that are designed to meet the needs of blind people so that they can read texts aloud automatically. The navigation system has been structured in such a way that it is easy to use even for people with motor impairments: instead of stepped navigation points, users click on single menu items that lead to entire pages.
However, even more should be achieved in terms of user-friendliness. Frequently used functions should be easier to find, search functions have been improved, and ZKB customers should also be able to experience optimized usability in many other areas. As the project focused entirely on the question of how the ZKB brand should be felt on the website, the content was also revised in addition to the structure.
According to Schmidt, it is difficult to design a website that offers optimal usability for all possible users, allows other functions such as the connection to the database and at the same time integrates all aesthetically oriented new technologies. Flash and various other popular functions had to be dispensed with. Nevertheless, the Internet presence is pleasant to look at. The elaborate design, the many tests and the various improvements have paid off: The "Access for All" certification body awarded the website the highest level of accessibility.
 
Natalie Favre 

 Tamedia is trying its hand abroad for the first time: together with the Luxembourg publishing house Editpresse, the Zurich-based media company is launching a free daily newspaper in Luxembourg. The paper, entitled L'Essentiel, is to be launched before the end of 2007. "This is not the first step in a major expansion plan abroad", emphasized Tamedia spokesman Christoph Zimmer to Werbewoche. Further steps abroad at a later date have not been ruled out. At the moment, however, the company has simply seized the opportunity that presents itself. "It is a manageable investment," Zimmer continued.
The Editpress publisher Alvin Sold and the former Tamedia publisher Hans Heinrich Coninx have been friends for a long time, which had already led to weekly magazines from the two companies exchanging texts. Luxembourg is an interesting market for Tamedia because it is very similar to Switzerland. The Benelux country is also a small multilingual country with a large proportion of newspaper readers. That is why Tamedia believes that major synergy effects are possible between the new title L'Essentiel and 20 Minuten or 20 minutes, Zimmer continued.
Editpress and Tamedia each hold a 50 percent stake in the newly founded publishing company Edita. Tamedia will be represented on the Board of Directors by Chairman Pietro Supino, CEO Martin Kall and 20 Minuten Managing Director Marcel Kohler. In addition to Alvin Sold, the publisher and CEO of Editpress, Danièle Fonck, Deputy CEO of Editpress and member of the Board of Directors, and Paul Hammelmann, member of the Board of Directors of Editpress, will join the Board of Directors of Edita on behalf of the Luxembourg-based company.
The Luxembourg publishing house is to contribute its knowledge of the Luxembourg media region to the project and guarantee its roots in the Grand Duchy. In return, Tamedia will contribute its experience with 20 Minuten and 20 minutes in Switzerland. "Editpresse chose us as a cooperation partner because we publish a successful commuter newspaper with 20 Minuten," says Zimmer.
The newspaper will be aimed at a "young, urban and affluent" readership, according to a press release. According to Tamedia spokesperson Zimmer, however, it is too early to provide information on the exact editorial concept. The new title will be distributed via newspaper boxes. A website will go online at the same time as the printed newspaper is launched.
The daily newspaper in Luxembourg has nothing to do with the new free newspaper project in Switzerland, Zimmer explained to Werbewoche. The weekly newspaper had written on Thursday that the "Tagi kompakt" project had been buried. "We never said that the new title was to be a Tagi kompakt edition. But we are still working on another free newspaper," said the Tamedia press office. Zimmer did not want to comment on industry rumors that this would be a slimmer, less expanded newspaper than 20 Minuten: "It is still too early to provide detailed information on the concept.

With a 34 percent increase in readership among German decision-makers, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung has greatly increased its popularity in the large canton. Among the foreign titles, only the Financial Times enjoys a larger readership in Germany than the NZZ.According to a communiqué, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung has achieved a 34 percent increase in readership among decision-makers in Germany in the last two years. The Swiss title bases its findings on the results of the latest "LAE-Leseranalyse Entscheidungsträger in Wirtschaft und Verwaltung" (the German equivalent of MA Leader), which examines the use of German and foreign press products every two years. The recently published LAE 2007 shows that the Neue Zürcher Zeitung has a widest readership of 250,000 and an average readership of 63,000.
This puts the NZZ in second place behind the Financial Times when it comes to the use of foreign titles by decision-makers in Germany. But - in some cases significantly - ahead of titles such as Wall Street Journal Europe, The Economist, International Herald Tribune, USA Today, Time, Figaro and Business Week.

Swisscom Mobile retailers are supporting promising young athletes from their region with the Golden Talents project. The Biel-based web agency Orange8 Interactive is responsible for the associated website.talent, ambition, commitment - and financial support are needed on the way to the gold medal. Swisscom Mobile is publicizing the "Golden Talents" campaign with a large-scale print campaign. Customers and Swisscom retailers are supporting young sports talents from their region.
The website, which accompanies the print campaign, was designed by Orange8 Interactive. The Biel-based agency was responsible for the concept, design and technical implementation of the online campaign in the "Golden Talents" project. The website offers lots of additional information about the campaign, such as photos and CVs of the young athletes, the addresses of the specialist retailers and a competition. The site is available in German and French, with Italian to follow shortly.

 
Almost 20 years after the advertising classic "With ARD and ZDF you sit in the front row", the German public broadcasters are once again advertising in a double pack.ARD and ZDF are preparing a joint image campaign. The budget goes to the Frankfurt agency Ogilvy & Mather. As the W&V sister title Kontakter reports, the agency won the pitch against three competitors, according to the German industry specialist Werben und Verkaufen. According to reports, Maksimovic, Saarbrücken, and BBDO Düsseldorf were also in the running.
The campaign is intended to "communicate the values of the public broadcasters", quotes Kontakter Alexander Stock, Head of Communications and Marketing at ZDF in Mainz. The launch of the joint campaign is planned for fall or winter. The existing station advertising will remain unaffected, it is said. The public broadcasters first advertised together in 1989 with the legendary claim "With ARD and ZDF you sit in the front row".

 
The advertising agency Agence Trio has developed a new communication campaign for the advertising portal Edicom.ch. In line with the motto "Find everything at the first click", a cinema spot was shot to position the Edicom website, among other things. With over 45,000 advertisements every day, Edicom is one of the market leaders in French-speaking Switzerland. The company commissioned the creative minds of Lausanne-based Agence Trio to position its Internet platform. A comprehensive communication campaign with the slogan "Tout trouver du premier clic" ("Find everything at the first click") is intended to raise Edicom's profile. The media plan implements Edicom's new slogan "À chaque situation, sa solution" by staging everyday situations. This includes a spot that will be shown in cinemas and on large screens at Geneva and Lausanne railroad stations.

 The umbrella organization of the Austrian Economic Chambers (WKÖ) wants to provide companies with legal advice to prevent advertising around the 2008 European Football Championships from triggering similar trademark disputes to those at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The aim is to prevent Austrian companies from interfering with UEFA's rights and potential lawsuits. Susanne Auer-Strobl from the WKÖ told Pressetext.ch that there was a great deal of uncertainty: "In recent weeks, there have been an extremely large number of inquiries from marketing representatives wanting to know how they are allowed to advertise and what is prohibited. There have been no court rulings on many topics in Austria to date, which is why it makes sense to seek legal advice in individual cases." In order to create clarity, the WKÖ commissioned lawyer Michael Horak to compile the legal provisions; according to Horak, the use of UEFA word/image marks such as the logo or mascots is prohibited. The giving away or raffling of tickets, the use of football player names or imitation logos can also result in legal sanctions. However, a descriptive reference to the European Championship is permitted, for example: Only during the 2008 European Championship: 10 percent off all footballs. Or: We'll win the title. "You definitely have to be creative," says Auer-Strobl.

 With a classic like FC Basel versus FC Zurich, it was to be expected: 381,000 viewers watched the match on SF Zwei on Sunday, July 22, 2007, giving the Super League a successful start to the season on television. Not so for the Zurich team; Basel won 1:0. The audience figure corresponds to a market share of 23.2 percent. 
Swiss television will broadcast nine more top matches from Switzerland's top division live. These include the first Zurich derby in the new Letzigrund Stadium, Zurich versus GC, on September 22, 2007, as well as three to five Swiss Cup matches, including the cup final. 

 The online platform of the German news magazine Stern has launched a new service: the Stern-Shortlist. However, it is not about advertising prizes, even if the name suggests the lists that may mean the world to advertisers. Instead, Stern-shortlist.de aims to "cut a swathe through the cultural jungle", as the website puts it. The portal aims to provide an overview of the flood of music, films, TV series and books. The concept of capturing the world in lists is clearly based on the successful novel High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. Its protagonist Rob makes a list of his worst break-ups after a painful relationship break-up. The topics on the Stern website are not quite so gloomy. It is fed by the editors; however, in the age of Web 2.0, users can of course also participate and publish their favorite lists on any topic. The shortlists are entertaining ("Songs that doped cyclists could listen to"), they impart knowledge ("Books that were nominated for the 2006 German Book Prize"), offer useful information ("Everything for children whose mother is turning 60") and make recommendations ("PC games for children that even critical teachers have no objections to").
The lists are also sometimes unintentionally instructive: for example, the list "Jasmin Wagner: albums from my CD shelf that my fans might be surprised about" tells us that the singer formerly known as Blümchen still exists. And some users also want to make the impossible possible: The list "Movies that are great even if you don't like Tom Cruise" is a truly ambitious project - as is the entry "Movies in which Jim Carrey doesn't grimace for once".