Markus P. Keller is handing over the reins to Michael Kistler with immediate effect and will be concentrating on Webcall Holding in future. Keller will remain associated with NetCommunications as Chairman of the Board of Directors and main shareholder, while Kistler will take on the role of Managing Director. After five years as Service Manager at Peak-Technologie, the qualified IT engineer moved to NetCommunications in 2002, where he took over the technical management as a member of the Executive Board. The company was founded in 1999. His responsibilities include all services required for the planning, development and operation of IT systems.

Concentration has increased significantly in the publishing industry over the past year. This is the conclusion reached by Bartholomäus & Cie. in its third Publishing Transaction Monitor. According to the report, 164 takeovers and investments were announced last year. The trade press was once again in high demand. With 43 transactions, it is ahead of the book trade (26) and book publishers (24). Bartholomäus & Cie. estimates that the volume of mergers and acquisitions in the specialist information segment is around 250 million euros. Bartholomäus & Cie. specializes in solutions for company acquisitions and sales in the publishing industry. The company was founded by Axel Bartholomäus, who was previously managing partner of the management consultancy Cross Media Consulting for three years.

Up to now, communication with posters and billboards in Switzerland has only been one-way. With City Boomer, for example, passers-by can help shape the advertising message via cell phone. In Germany, billboards at 30 different locations are currently sending personalized advertising messages via Bluetooth to the cell phones of passers-by. Communication requires the cooperation of consumers. The car brand Mini is also testing this type of personalized advertising transmission on billboards in US cities. 1,000 Mini drivers invited by Mini to take part in the project have a radio chip dangling from their car keys, which registers the approaching driver with the billboard. As soon as the driver passes the billboard, the regular advertising changes to a personal message. The messages usually refer to driving habits: "There are bends so that they can be cut" is one of them. Whether the advertising message - aimed at the driving public - also appeals to the police remains to be seen. In any case, Advertising Week sees potential for success for Mini. After all, the message on the billboard could also read: "If you have an accident here, the nearest Mini dealer is 200 meters to the east".

With the "Network of the Year" Award, Cannes Lions 2007 honors the most successful agency network for the first time. The award is made up of all Cannes Lions categories. It is awarded to the network whose participating agencies receive the most points at the International Advertising Festival.

The Zurich-based company Unic Internet Solutions has created a new website for Bank Sarasin in line with its corporate identity. According to a press release, the new website keeps pace with the times and, as a well-structured information platform, lives up to its quality standards. At the same time as the new design, Unic has also revised its e-service. In line with the bank's philosophy, clients were at the center of the redesign. Founded in 1841, Sarasin Private Bank employs over 1,100 people. In addition to its head office in Basel, it has Swiss branches in Zurich, Geneva and Lugano. Internationally, the Sarasin Group is represented by subsidiaries in Dubai, Guernsey, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Munich, Paris and Singapore.

After months of wrangling over ProSiebenSat.1, investors Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts (KKR) and Permira now want to take over the ProSiebenSat.1 Group in its entirety. The new majority shareholders are offering EUR 28.71 in cash per ordinary share and EUR 22.45 for each non-voting preference share, as reported by the news agency SDA. The remaining shareholders have until March 19 to respond to the offer. The British company Permira and the US fund KKR acquired a majority stake in the media group from US billionaire Haim Saban for around 3 billion euros in December. At the time, they beat the Turkish media company and the consortium of Apax and Goldman Sachs out of the race.
KKR and Permira currently hold around 88% of the shares and around 13% of the preference shares. The two private equity firms are planning to create the largest TV group in Germany. To this end, they want to merge their media group SBS with dozens of television and radio stations in Europe in order to compete with Europe's largest television and radio company RTL. According to the investors, no jobs should fall victim to the project.

The former editor-in-chief of Schweizer Illustrierte, Marc Walder, will take over as editor-in-chief of SonntagsBlick on February 19, 2007. He succeeds the previous Editor-in-Chief Christoph Grenacher, who is devoting himself to other journalistic tasks within the Ringier publishing house. The 41-year-old Walder has worked for Ringier since 1991. From September 17, 2000 until today as Editor-in-Chief of Schweizer Illustrierte. He was also one of the driving forces behind the monthly SI Style, which was launched last year. After attending the Ringier School of Journalism, Walder worked at Blick as chief reporter, head of entertainment and later as head of the news desk and member of the editorial board. Between 1997 and 1999, he was employed at SonntagsBlick as deputy editor-in-chief, then as head of sports at Blick and SonntagsBlick until he became editor-in-chief of Schweizer Illustrierte in 2000. Ringier announced on Tuesday that Walder will successfully develop and expand SonntagsBlick's number 1 position as the best-selling and most widely read Sunday newspaper in Switzerland.
Grenacher has been editor-in-chief of SonntagsBlick since March 2004 and has provided decisive impetus for the modernization of the title, including the redesign of the third issue. Grenacher will take on new tasks within the Ringier publishing house. Schweizer Illustrierte will be managed on an interim basis by SI Publishing Director Urs Heller.

Jürg Buob is the new editor-in-chief of Online PC Zeitung. In recent years, Buob was editor-in-chief of the IT trade journal ICT Kommunikation. Before that, he worked as a systems engineer and IT teacher. Buob succeeds Bernhard Bircher-Suits, who is taking over as Head of Corporate Publishing at Swisscontent (see ). 

Shortly after Microsoft released the new Windows Vista operating system, Swiss Television (SF) is offering a new video-on-demand service. All Windows Vista users can now access eight programs (Tagesschau, Meteo, 10vor10, Schweiz Aktuell, Puls, Rundschau and MTW). Swiss Television plans to expand the program to 30 shows by the summer, according to a statement from SF. The service is currently only available to users of the new operating system. For users of older Microsoft operating systems or Mac users, the previous video offering on Sf.tv will continue to be available.

Loterie Romand is trying to draw attention to the game of chance Rento in a playful way with a special microwebsite. The game was created by the advergaming specialists at Agence-Trio. Gamblers can win a lifelong pension with the Rento lottery ticket. As this ticket is very popular with the younger public, Loterie Romand is now putting a new game online every season.

After 37 years at Swiss Television (SF), Adrian Marthaler is taking early retirement at the end of 2007. From now on, the head of the culture department at SF intends to work as an independent cultural producer. The member of the Executive Board made a name for himself primarily as a director of in-house music productions for Swiss Television. Between 1994 and 2004, Marthaler served as program director. In view of Euro 08, SRG has decided to launch an HD shared channel at the end of 2007, which will allow television programs to be broadcast in HDTV format. SF entrusts Benny Kiser with the mandate of national channel manager.
In addition, a Strategy and Planning staff unit will be created within the Television Directorate. It will support the Director of Television in cross-departmental and SRG-wide strategic matters, according to a statement from SF.

Maxomedia, the Bern-based agency for cross-media communication, is now also represented by a front office in Zurich. According to a company press release, this should not be seen as "a no to Bern, but as a yes for Zurich". By taking this step, the agency aims to strengthen its proximity to the communications industry in Zurich, although Maxomedia will remain headquartered in Bern. In addition to the limited expansion of staff in Zurich, Maxomedia has created a new conception unit, headed by René Schwarz (29).