The Baden agency Mach Corporate & Werbung strengthens its team with the production specialist Verena Buser. This is according to a statement from the agency. Verena Buser entered the advertising industry as a trained photographer in 1990 at GGK Basel. In the years that followed, she specialized in production planning and execution and oversaw major international campaigns at Weber, Hodel, Schmid, among others. As a consultant at Mach Corporate & Werbung, she monitors that agreed deadlines and budgets are met.

How long does online news stay up to date? 36 hours. At least that is the result of research by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, a physicist at the University of Notre Dame. The result is the result of the study "The Dynamics of Information Access on the Web". Another finding of the study is that users do not access the news spread out over the whole day, but rather in clusters over a shorter period of time.
Prior to the publication of the study results, a much shorter half-life of news timeliness had been expected - most estimates were between two and four hours. The Barabasi study was based on tracking every click of every single visitor to the Hungarian news and entertainment website Origo.hu.

In the period from January 1 to June 30, 2006, 268,100 people listened to Radio 24 every day, giving the station a net reach of 6.1 percent in German-speaking Switzerland and putting it in the top position among private radio stations. In the Zurich license area, Radio 24 reached around 205,000 people every day. Radio 24's market share in the target group of 15 to 49-year-olds was 16 percent, according to a press release. Compared to the same period last year, 12,900 listeners have been gained. The information programs were particularly well received, according to the press release: During the station's one-and-a-half-hour evening info program between 5.00 and 6.30 p.m., the market share is 3.6 percent. The morning show "Ufsteller" between 06.00 and 09.00 reaches around 130,000 listeners in the greater Zurich area every day, with a market share of 3 percent.

On July 24, the analogue terrestrial distribution of TV channels will be switched off in Ticino, a pioneering canton on the way to SRG digital television (see SRG makes Ticino a pioneer in Digi-TV). Although the switchover should take place without any significant problems, some local politicians in Ticino are concerned and have responded with a parliamentary motion. The switchover will affect around 25,000 television sets in Tessib, which currently still receive TV programs via antenna.
On the one hand, there are peripheral areas where the new signal cannot be received, claims Cantonal Councillor Lorenzo Quadri in a parliamentary question to the Ticino government. He also claims that the digital receiver required is more expensive than the minimum price of CHF 150 specified by TSI. Older people in particular would have to seek advice for the switchover, as they are not technically savvy, and this would cost money.
The councillors are now calling on the Ticino government to intervene with TSI so that TV reception is guaranteed everywhere. The question also arises as to whether the SRG could waive part of the cost of purchasing a digital receiver for consumers. TSI reacted angrily to the proposal and for its part recalled the Federal Council's decision to introduce digital terrestrial broadcasting (DVB-T), which applies to the whole of Switzerland. The whole of Switzerland is to be covered by 2009. Digital terrestrial broadcasting will result in better picture quality and the reception of more channels. According to SRG estimates, 10 to 15 percent of households currently still watch television via antenna.
TSI spokesperson Paolo Rimoldi assured that the new signal can be received throughout the canton and that everything possible has been done to ensure a smooth transition. There are still technical problems in one municipality, but the old signal will remain in place there until the problem has been resolved.
The TSI has also set up a helpline, and 325 calls were received last week, according to the SDA news agency. Migros is also offering decoders in Ticino for 88 francs in a newspaper advertisement.

Stéphane Benoit-Godet will take up the post of Editor-in-Chief of the French-speaking Swiss business magazine Bilan on September 1. He succeeds Olivier Toublan, who is moving to Edipresse Asia, according to a press release. Benoit-Godet is currently deputy editor-in-chief of Bilan. The 36-year-old lawyer previously wrote for the Tribune de Genève for three years and for Le Temps for five years. His predecessor Toublan had headed Bilan since January 2003, under whose aegis the magazine switched from a monthly to a bi-weekly rhythm last year.

The cooperation between Arena and Premiere to distribute the Bundesliga soccer league in Germany is being examined by the Cartel Office. In addition, new subscribers face an additional fee. As a result of the cooperation, Premiere customers also have access to the services of Arena, which won the bid for the soccer rights (see Arena and Premiere cooperate). Now Premiere apparently plans to charge new customers a one-time activation fee in addition to the subscription cost of 14.90 euros. This is reported by Dwdl.de. Activation fees are common on paper, but have mostly been waived in practice through permanent marketing campaigns. Currently, Premiere's activation fee is 29.90 euros. But they may vary in the future, Georg Kofler, the company's chief executive, told Stern. At the same time, the cooperation must undergo an examination by the Federal Cartel Office. The authority wants to determine whether the cooperation is a prohibited anti-competitive agreement. However, this is a routine investigation, a spokeswoman for the office told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Another front around soccer broadcasts is apparently also being fought. Last December, German Telekom was awarded the rights for Internet distribution. However, according to Dwdl.de, it cannot yet come up with a bookable offer shortly before the start of the new season. Rumor has it that this will change by kickoff, but that the offering will be limited for the time being and, for example, will not be supplemented with video-on-demand until later.

Roger Schawinski criticizes Swiss television's decision to cancel the soap "Lüthi und Blanc": "I'm not surprised that 'Lüthi und Blanc' is being discontinued. But the fact that they don't have a follow-up format at the start is baffling." The Sat 1 boss said this in an interview with the program magazine TV-Star. Schawinski is sure that SF could afford a daily soap: "After all, SRG's total budget is over a billion." The longtime SF critic also offers himself as an advisor to Ingrid Deltenre on soaps and says that he would be happy to help if SF needs a few tips.

Together with Migros' green budget line M-Travel, M-Budget is organizing a party trip to Rimini in Italy for 1000 people. As befits the M-Budget brand, the price is also particularly attractive for small budgets: for CHF 299, the trip includes two nights' accommodation and a party.

Werbewoche online will also be taking a summer break from July 20 to August 6. The first Newsmail after the break will appear on Monday, August 7, 2006. The next issue of the printed Werbewoche will appear on August 17.
We wish you all a wonderful summer!

Internet portal operator Yahoo has upset shareholders with low sales prospects and delays to its new advertising platform. The long-awaited new advertising system for search queries will be postponed by three months to the fourth quarter, announced company boss Terry Semel according to SDA. Yahoo needs more time before the system can be presented to customers. The company will not even be able to introduce individual parts until the beginning of 2007. For this reason, the system will not have a noticeable effect on profits until the spring. Yahoo wants to earn more money with ads on pages with search results. Its competitor Google has taken market share in this area. A few months ago, Yahoo therefore agreed a comprehensive cooperation with the Internet auction house Ebay for advertising and trading on the Internet (see
Yahoo and Ebay attack Google) The sales forecasts are also not encouraging for investors: Yahoo is expecting sales of 4.60 to 4.85 billion dollars for the whole of 2006, whereas analysts had expected up to 4.9 billion dollars. In the second quarter just ended, net profit fell by 78 percent to 164 million dollars. However, analysts had expected this. Turnover rose by 28 percent to 1.12 billion dollars.

Due to an error in the German-language version, the referendum deadline for the new Radio and Television Act (RTVA) has been rescheduled. As announced by the Federal Chancellery on Tuesday, the renewed 100-day referendum period ends on October 26, 2006.
A mistake has crept into the legal text that distorts the meaning. Article 83 reads "the appeal is admissible against ..." instead of "the appeal is inadmissible against ...".
The totally revised RTVA was passed by the Federal Parliament on March 24, 2006, but the referendum deadline of July 13 expired unused.

The web radio stations of Radio 105, 105 Original, 105 Dope, 105 Classics and 105 Hitradio, have been able to increase their audience figures by 18 percent in the last two months compared to the last survey period (January to April 2006). According to Giuseppe Scaglione, founder and managing director of Radio 105, the web radios were used around 601,000 times per month. "This is a new record and there is no end in sight to this upward trend! We bet on IP radio very early on and now we are being rewarded for our commitment," says Scaglione according to the press release. Since the launch of web radio at the beginning of 2005, usage has increased by a total of 418 percent. A new web radio is planned for the summer.