The pre-selection for the new music casting show "Superstar" on the young Swiss TV channel 3+ is in full swing. In contrast to other channels, the young talents on 3+ are already performing in front of the TV jury led by Chris von Rohr at this stage. Soon also in Bern, Basel and Lucerne. Ruf Lanz has created a surprising casting call for this purpose. Chris von Rohr can be seen on it as you have never seen him before: in the look of an English head judge, with his hair in curls. Stylishly portrayed in oil by John Hollander. Conclusion: Those who can really sing and rap now face the judgment of the 3+ jury.

The annual Swiss industry event Screen-up is being held for the ninth time. The event will take place on September 26 at the Abaton cinema in Zurich. Swiss television will be represented on site with some familiar faces. In addition to TV Director Ingrid Deltenre (SF) and TV Director Gilles Marchand (TSR), many presenters have reserved the date, according to a press release. Among others, Thomas Bucheli, Daniela Schmid and Kurt Aeschbacher are expected to attend. Prof. Dr. Bernd Schmitt from Columbia University in New York will speak on the topic of "Media meets Innovative Branding". Another item on the program is a debate on "Media agencies and their future". Further information and the registration function can be found on the event website.

The tabloid Blick mocked on Saturday in its sports section that a dental clinic in western Switzerland had resorted to a trick for advertising purposes, but not to the dictionary. FC Sion's jerseys are emblazoned with an imprint that partially obscures the lettering of the S-Dent dental clinic with the words "censuré" and "zenzuriert". The background to this is that advertising for medical services is prohibited in Valais. That's why the club bosses came up with the idea of the censored appearance. However, Blick concluded from the idiosyncratic spelling that the Valaisans are better at kicking than writing. 

Now the company S-Dent announces in a communiqué that the "censored" advertising - including spelling mistakes - was fully intentional. The same procedure had already been chosen as supplier of HC Sierre, but no letter of media resonance had been received. Therefore, S-Dent asked a "specialist of 'Blickologie', National Councilor Oskar Freysinger" for help. This recommended for the purpose of interest increase to conjure a spelling mistake into the advertisement. The French company sees its intention fulfilled and writes: "A successful manipulation has a much better effect on Blick than the brittle facts." Incidentally, according to Blick, the advertising appearance will cost the dental clinic around 60,000 francs for the first Uefa Cup round. If Sion reaches the group matches, another 100,000 francs will be due.

Weltwoche's head of culture, Thomas Kramer, will take over as publishing director of Scheidegger & Spiess in late fall. He replaces Heiner Spiess, who died unexpectedly in May 2006. Kramer has been the head of the culture department at Weltwoche since spring 2005. Before that, he wrote for the culture section of the Tagesanzeiger. Kramer will be succeeded by Peer Teuwsen as of January 1, 2007 (see ).

The Ogilvy Group has acquired a significant majority stake in the online marketing agency Planetactive. Even after the takeover, Planetactive will remain an independent unit. Operational responsibility will continue to lie with Matthias Kurwig as Managing Director as well as the Regional Managing Directors Stefan Längin and Martin Sinning (Germany), Andreas Jorgella (Switzerland) and Rupert Müller-Hartburg (Austria). No personnel changes are planned in the Planetactive offices in Düsseldorf, Zurich and Vienna.
 
According to Matthias Kurwig, the move will enable the agency to offer its clients a complete full-service range of modern digital marketing, as detailed in a press release. By joining Ogilvy, Planetactive will benefit from the advantages of the global Ogilvy network, particularly in the media business.
 
With immediate effect, Planetactive's media division will become part of Neo@Ogilvy, the company's new global digital and direct media network. This enables Planetactive to realize international campaigns not only in German-speaking countries, but also around the globe.

In view of the increasing shortage of frequencies for analog broadcasting, the cable network company Cablecom is moving the TV channels TVE int. and BBC Prime to the digital service. The company regrets this, according to a media communiqué. However, this move will create space for further digital channels and additional functionalities, and the analog frequencies freed up by the move will be used to broadcast local channels such as Tele Züri, Tele Bärn, Tele Basel, Tele Top, Tele M1 and Tele Tell. These will also be part of the basic digital offering in the corresponding broadcasting area from October 3.
When selecting the analog channels to be moved to the digital service, Cablecom takes into account the following criteria, among others: Effective channel usage (audience ratings), whether the channel is broadcast in one of the four national languages and whether the channel has a regional or national license.
The EU plans to replace traditional analog signal distribution in the broadcasting sector, radio and television with digital signal distribution by 2010. Switzerland must follow this development, it continues.

Springer Science+Business Media, the book publisher in the fields of science, technology and medicine, is acquiring the US-based Humana Press. According to a press release, the scientific publisher of books and journals in the fields of molecular biology, neuroscience, cancer research and medicine is an excellent addition to Springer's portfolio. The new acquisition also strengthens Springer's position in the publishing areas of life sciences and clinical medicine.
 Humana Press, based in Totowa, New Jersey, has a portfolio of 25 journals and a backlist of around 1,000 book titles. The acquisition also gives Springer two highly respected protocol databases to complement the Springer eBook Collection. Ray Colón has been appointed General Manager of Humana Press and is responsible for day-to-day operations and integration into the Springer Group. He was previously employed by Elsevier. Since joining the company a year ago, he has been instrumental in the launch of the Springer eBook Collection.

The US software manufacturer Microsoft is trying its hand at an online video service. Within six months, the "Soapbox" site should be available as part of the MSN online service, the news agency SDA reported on Monday. Microsoft has been chasing the competition for some time now (see ).
 
Microsoft currently offers commercial video downloads, but would like to challenge other Internet companies such as Google, Time Warner and News Corp. They all have their own online video portals. Probably the best known, however, is YouTube. Since February 2005, users have been able to upload and watch videos on the website. According to analysts Nielsen/NetRatings, YouTube had 34 million visitors in August 2006.
 
Meanwhile, YouTube has decided to compromise on copyright issues, as Pressetext.ch reports. By the end of the year, the portal wants to install software that detects copyrighted content. As a result, advertising revenue will be shared with the creators of the respective content.

According to the Federal Supreme Court, the term "Therapy" is not permitted to designate a cosmetic product. It has rejected an appeal by the cosmetics company Estée Lauder. In 2003, the Zurich Cantonal Laboratory had prohibited the company's Swiss subsidiary from marketing its imported product line "Clinique Water Therapy" with the term "Therapy". Following the Zurich Administrative Court, the Federal Court has now also rejected the appeal lodged against this by the cosmetics company, as reported by SDA.According to the Federal Court, any reference to a disease-curing, disease-relieving or disease-preventing effect is prohibited in the designation of cosmetic products, as is the case with foodstuffs. However, this is precisely the impression that can be created when "Therapy" is used for cosmetic products. This perception is reinforced by the term "Clinique". According to the Federal Supreme Court, it is irrelevant that the controversial name is apparently accepted under EU law in the surrounding countries.

The free course offered by Swiss Post and FCP on the topic of "Corporate Publishing" provides basic knowledge and current trends.(pr) Answers to the most important CP questions: On the initiative of the Forum Corporate Publishing (FCP), Swiss Post is now offering a free online course on the topic of "Corporate Publishing". After registering on the Swiss Post website, participants will receive five course units by e-mail at weekly intervals. All course units are consistently practice-oriented and contain tips and links to practical tools. The topics range from conception to editing and design to production and success control. ?Anyone who wants to publish successful corporate publications must tailor them to the needs of the readers and implement them professionally? explains Swiss FCP board member Dr. Beat Schaller. ?as part of our quality offensive, we want to use the online course to impart the relevant basic knowledge and at the same time provide information about the most important trends in corporate publishing?
The CP course is already the seventh online course offered by Swiss Post. So far, more than 10,000 interested parties have logged into the course units at www.directpoint.ch.
Forum Corporate Publishing brings together around 70 CP providers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. They offer services for all areas of corporate communications, from classic print products to new electronic media. The Forum is the largest association of corporate publishing service providers in Europe.

With the latest print motif for Schweizer Illustrierte (SI), the advertising agency Publicis shows that the claim "Closer to the stars" is not just an empty promise. As a reminiscence of the beautiful past, SI is running a double-page spread with the former Misses. Still in the style of the current image campaign and thus held by two hands holding the Swiss magazine open. According to a press release, a conscious decision was made to use the ex-beauty princess. They are intended to offer a refreshing alternative to the currently omnipresent Christa Rigozzi. But she too will soon be "within reach".

The European Court of Human Rights has declared the Federal Court's condemnation of a TSR program to be incompatible with the Convention on Human Rights. The Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television (UBI) had condemned an edition of the program "Temps présent" broadcast in 1997. The Federal Supreme Court subsequently confirmed this ruling. The journalist responsible for the report, Daniel Monnat, then appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. The controversial program, broadcast by TSR in March 1997, dealt with the history of Switzerland during the Second World War and in particular with relations between Switzerland and Germany. Monnat's research, entitled "L'honneur perdu de la Suisse", provoked strong reactions when it was broadcast. Following a complaint by a group of television viewers, the program was condemned by the UBI in 1999 and then by the Federal Court. Monnat, who is now editor-in-chief of the TSR information magazines, then turned to the Strasbourg court.
The European Court of Human Rights considers the condemnation to be incompatible with the Convention on Human Rights, as SRG announced on Monday. The Court found that the report was based on serious historical research. The author had acted in good faith and respected journalistic principles. In its ruling, the Court feared that the Federal Supreme Court's decision could deter journalists from contributing to a topic of increased general interest. Such a sanction would therefore tend to hinder the media in fulfilling their information and control function.
The Directorate General of SRG and the management of TSR welcome the decision of the European Court of Justice. The legal block to which the program is subject will be lifted by TSR.