In May 2006, Swiss television achieved a market share of 35.7%, which corresponds to an increase of 3 percentage points compared to May 2005. The increase is primarily attributable to SF 1. The newly designed early evening in particular attracted more viewers and increased by 7.9 percentage points. The station gained 2.3 percentage points in the main evening, 1.5 percentage points in the late evening and 3.3 percentage points in the night. During the day, SF1 lost 1.7 percentage points compared to the same month last year. SF2, on the other hand, lost over the whole day (-0.5), during the day (-0.8), in the evening before (-1.5) and in the late evening (-0.5 percentage points). SF2 made gains in May on the main evening (+0.1) and at night (+0.7 percentage points). SF as a whole, with the channels SF1, SF2 and SF info, increased its audience market share in all five time periods last month. In the months from January to May, SF achieved an average of 35.4 percent, up two percentage points on the 2005 annual average.

The second wave of the Chance06 apprenticeship campaign was recently launched. There is nothing to see on the white posters except various URLs in the style of www.genug-von-der-schule.ch, www.was-wird-aus-mir.ch or www.ein-lehrling-hat-mir-gerade-noch-gefehlt.ch. If you enter the link in your browser, you will be taken to the www.chance06.ch site. This platform was launched last February by the federal government, cantons and organizations from the world of work. It offers a wide range of information and services relating to apprenticeships. The poster campaign is intended to raise awareness of the apprenticeship problem among the general public as well as those directly affected. Other advertising materials include internet banners, streetcar hangers and postcards.

Rainer Beaujean, the CEO of T-Online, is resigning from office. His departure comes one day after the Federal Court of Justice yesterday approved the merger of T-Online with its parent company Deutsche Telekom. The merger, which had been agreed for some time, had been blocked by some shareholders until the end. Rainer Beaujean is leaving the T-Online Board of Management "by mutual agreement", the Group announced. The 37-year-old has been CEO of Europe's largest Internet provider since October 1, 2004. Prior to that, he had been responsible for finance on the company's Management Board since October 1, 2000. CFO Jens Becker will succeed Beaujean until further notice.

Zurich Airport has been advertising its shopping center on an aircraft for a few days now. On a Swiss Jumbolino, an alpine elevator is depicted with herdsmen and animals carrying full shopping bags. The motif is intended to draw attention to the attractiveness of the shopping opportunities at the airport, writes airport operator Unique in a press release. At the same time, the painting also makes reference to Switzerland's traditions and unspoiled nature. At first glance, the motif looks to passengers like the traditional, internationally known motif of the Appenzell Alpine elevator. The "shopping elevator" was created in collaboration with the Zurich advertising agency Gothuey & Partner and the illustrator Christian Kitzmüller.

The Federal Supreme Court will deal with the controversial participation of the Berner Zeitung in the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten. The Competition Commission (Weko) has appealed a decision by the Appeals Commission for Competition Issues, as reported by SDA. The Competition Commission had prohibited the participation in the commuter newspaper in January 2004. This ban was overturned by the Competition Appeals Commission at the beginning of May after Espace Media Groupe lodged an appeal, and the Competition Commission has now lodged an appeal with the Federal Supreme Court, as its Deputy Director Patrik Ducrey told SDA on Friday. The Federal Supreme Court must examine "certain fundamental questions", explained Ducret, without wanting to go into more detail. The Weko's appeal means that the Berner Zeitung will not be able to acquire a 17.5 percent stake in the commuter newspaper as planned for the time being. Espace Media Groupe deeply regrets this appeal. "The proceedings, which are now still pending, are blocking entrepreneurial and strategic decisions and leading to further delays in an extremely dynamic market," the company said in a statement.

Michael Hiller is to become the new head of the Zurich/Schaffhausen regional editorial office of Schweizer Radio DRS. He will take up the post in the fall, as reported by SDA. Hiller has worked for Radio DRS since 1983. From 1993 to 2003, he was head of the business desk. Hiller is currently a correspondent in San Francisco. Gabriela Brönimann, the previous head, will become Head of Training at Radio DRS.

The cooperation between Deutsche Telekom and Premiere regarding the broadcasting rights for the German Soccer League appears to be failing: According to a report in the "Financial Times Deutschland", the Telekom Group would give up the cable and satellite rights if it could obtain the mobile and naming rights to the Bundesliga on more favorable terms. Talks to this effect are currently underway. For the pay-TV channel Premiere, this would mean disappointing the majority of its subscribers with regard to the Bundesliga. The broadcaster lost the live TV rights in December, but had hoped for a cooperation with Telekom. As the holder of the online rights, Telekom had granted Premiere a corresponding sub-license for broadcasts in the IP standard. However, this would have put Telekom at risk of a legal dispute, as in this case the exclusive rights would have been challenged by the cable company Arena. Meanwhile, insiders estimate the mobile rights at between 5 and 10 million euros, while the value of the naming rights is said to be between 30 and 45 million euros.

Gunter Thielen (63), member of the Executive Board and CEO of Bertelsmann AG, will receive the award on June 20, Cannes Lions announced on Thursday. The Media Person of the Year Award honors a prominent personality in the international media industry. Thielen has led Bertelsmann AG in Gütersloh since August 2002 and has significantly improved the company's profitability since then, according to the citation.

According to the latest e-mail trends from Epsilon Interactive International for the first quarter of 2006 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the results indicate a stabilization of e-mail performance compared to the fourth quarter of 2005. 1.2 billion emails from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and South Africa were analyzed for the study. One of the most important findings: The opening rates are already at 30 percent for the third quarter in a row. Another positive finding is a slight increase in click-through rates from 9.6 to 9.8 percent. This is a sign that email marketing programs are being well received by customers. Spam complaints also reached a new low of 0.36% in the campaigns surveyed.

The men's magazine Penthouse is getting another chance. Penthouse Germany Publishing Verlag will now be publishing the magazine. On June 9, the magazine will return to newsstands for 4.20 euros, reports the industry service kress.de. A World Cup-themed issue is planned, with editor-in-chief Markus Boden staying on. It is unclear who is behind Penthouse Germany Publishing. The only thing that is known is that they are private investors. They want to expand the Internet business under penthouse.de. The previous publisher BMB Medien had little success - after only five issues, the company had to initiate insolvency proceedings. As a result, the May issue was not published.

The private marketing organization IP Multimedia is adding a competence center in Bern to its existing locations in Küsnacht (ZH), Biel, Basel and Lausanne. The Stade de Suisse is now home to the Bernese branch for electronic media. The sales office is managed by Siegfried Ceballos. He previously worked as Key Account Manager TV at Publica Data.

In future, freelance media professionals who are working on a major project but are not yet receiving a fee will be able to count on grants from the assistance fund for Zurich journalists. As can be read on the website of the Zurich Press Association, the amounts involved are between 500 and 3000 francs. A total of 30,000 francs is available. The project is initially limited to one year and will then be evaluated in detail, explained Erich Solenhalter (Tages-Anzeiger), President of the Foundation Board, when asked by the Press Association.