The Swiss domestic news service also receives information from private individuals. As the news agency SDA reports, these are paid a maximum of CHF 2,000 per year. It is unclear how many informants are involved. There is also no employment contract. "This is not a special regulation in Switzerland," said Danièle Bersier, spokeswoman for the Federal Office of Police, in response to a report by Sonntagsblick. The regulation is legally enshrined in federal law with measures to safeguard internal security.

In Germany, four mobile phone operators launched a pilot project for mobile TV on Monday. For the first time, selected cell phone users in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Hanover will be able to receive 16 TV and radio programs on their suitable cell phones until the end of August. The radio standard DVB-H (digital Video Broadcasting Handheld) will be used. According to RTL interactive, DVB-H will establish itself alongside UMTS as a mobile standard for the transmission of television images and help mobile TV achieve a breakthrough in Germany. In contrast to UMTS, the television signal is broadcast 1:1 and without a time delay.
The commercial launch of mobile TV is planned for next year, with mobile operators T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2 and E-Plus targeting the mass market rather than a small elite. Cell phone users would then be able to receive TV programs as well as specially produced TV services for a monthly fee of between 5 and 15 euros. Technically, the reception of up to 50 programs is conceivable. For commercial operation, the four mobile phone providers want to form a consortium that will distribute the programs via a digital platform and finance the broadcasting network. However, no further details were provided on Monday.

The Zurich agency Elunia Visual Media received two awards at this year's Best of Swiss Web Awards for the Sunrise-7seconds game project. In the "Online & Mobile Campaigns" category, the agency and client were delighted to win first prize. There was also a seal of approval in the "Online Marketing" category.
The aim of Sunrise-7seconds was to publicize Sunrise Musicworld. The game was publicized with e-mailings, print and online communication, media partnerships and co-marketing campaigns. The viral effect achieved on the website ensured an additional increase in reach. The Zurich agency Benaja Websolutions was involved in the realization.

A giant poster of the Swiss national football team is currently hanging on a wall of the Tamedia media group. The motif was originally produced as a supplement for last Saturday's "Magazin", but the editors liked it so much that they made more of it. According to an article in the "Tages-Anzeiger", the giant poster will hang until the Swiss national team is eliminated. After that, the poster will be cut up and - to cover the costs of 9,000 francs - the individual images will be auctioned on eBay.

Several German TV broadcasters are joining forces to exert pressure for political liberalization of the sports betting market. DSF, Premiere, RTL and Pro Sieben Sat.1 have formed a "Betting Working Group". The alliance has its sights set primarily on the meeting of the Minister Presidents on June 22, 2006, at which a uniform line is to be agreed in implementing the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court. This court had ruled that the monopoly of the state sports betting provider Oddset was unconstitutional. The market must be re-regulated by 2007 - either by maintaining the state monopoly and effectively combating gambling and betting addiction or by opening up the market to private betting providers.

Advertising professionals have until June 12 to submit their work for the 23rd international competition "The Poster" 2005/2006. The best works in the categories "Consumer Goods", "Services", "Institutions", "Trade", "Culture", "Media" and "Capital Goods", which were posted in Germany, Austria or Switzerland by May 31, will be awarded advertising pillars in gold, silver or bronze. The award ceremony will take place in Munich at the end of October 2006. Entry forms can be requested from CommClubs Bayern.

Neue Zürcher Zeitung acquires 12.5 percent of the German television company DCTP (Development Company For Television Program). DCTP is a TV platform for independent third parties in German commercial TV and is managed by the German filmmaker Prof. Dr. Alexander Kluge. Kluge continues to hold a good third of the shares, the other owners are Deutsche Spiegel Verlag (12.5 percent) and the Japanese company Dentsu Inc. (37.5 percent). According to the press release, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung also intends to use the stake to participate in the further development of digital television distribution via cable, satellite and the Internet (IP TV). With this investment, Zücher Verlag is also anchoring its cooperation with DCTP under company law.
Under license from DCTP, NZZ began broadcasting "NZZ Format" on the Vox channel in 1993; since then, over 500 programs have been produced. In addition to Vox, DCTP also holds broadcasting licenses on RTL and Sat.1, which are staffed by the partners with editorial independence. The German company holds shares in Swiss PresseTV, which broadcasts its programs on SF2 with its own license. As part of the investment, NZZ has also restructured its New Media division and is separating its online activities from television and documentary film production. Wolfgang Frei is the new Head of Television and Film, while the position of Head of Online Editorial is still vacant.

Anyone who has to work during the World Cup and still doesn't want to miss a game on SF can watch it on adsl.tv in the highest picture and sound quality. This improvement was made possible by an increase in picture quality by the SRG; adsl.tv receives the SF1 and SF2 programs digitally via satellite. The new streaming bandwidth of 1mbps and increased compression of the signal by Netstream achieve a further increase in transmission quality. Adsl.tv is the only streaming portal for real-time television in Switzerland and is operated by Netstream. In addition to SF1 and SF2, the company also broadcasts programs from channels such as ORF1, Pro7, Vox and MTV on the Internet.

The Zurich-based communications agency Jenni Kommunikation is taking over communications for Collanos Software with immediate effect. The mandate includes technical consulting and the implementation of the communication strategy in Switzerland as well as the role as lead agency for Germany, Austria and the USA. According to a press release, Jenni Kommunikation's expertise in the ITC and consumer electronics environment is a decisive factor in the collaboration. Collanos offers software solutions that enable ad hoc teamwork without the need for a central server.

The offer for participation in the Net-Metrix Internet research model, drawn up jointly with the Net-Metrix User Commission, has been sent out. If funding can be secured by the end of June 2006, the new Net-Metrix Internet research, which was set up jointly by Wemf and SRG, could be used from the beginning of 2007. Interested parties who have not yet received an offer can obtain detailed information on the three modules Net-Audit, Net-Profile and Net-Tracking as well as on the conditions of participation and prices on the Wemf website. There will also be an information event on June 8, 2006 from 3 to 5 p.m. at Technopark Zurich, where the new Net-Metrix research model will be presented. Registration at www.wemf.ch.

Due to the continuing popularity of "Brigitte Woman", the offshoot for slightly older readers over 40, the publisher Gruner + Jahr has doubled the publication frequency. From September, the magazine will now be published monthly instead of bi-monthly. In the first quarter of 2006, "Brigitte Woman" sold 312,489 copies, 281,832 of which were purchased via single copy sales. However, total sales of all "Brigitte" titles fell by 4.2 percent compared to the previous year.

Swiss television has to save money. This has also been felt by the older generation in recent weeks: In a newsletter at the beginning of May, editor-in-chief Ueli Haldimann advised media professionals to take early retirement at the age of 62. As this decision disregards the collective labor agreement (CLA) and was met with great indignation by SF employees, the management has now reversed this decision, reports "Sonntagsblick". Individual employment contracts with employees over the age of 62 will continue to be possible. Sentences in the newsletter such as "SF has an obligation to give young people a chance" or "Of course: we would prefer to continue working with everyone (or let's say: almost everyone)" were met with anger. Haldimann subsequently apologized for this statement. Many older SF employees were shocked at how television was trying to get rid of them, Ernst Gräub from the Swiss Syndicate of Media Professionals (SSM) told Sonntagsblick. SF has plenty of money for the new look and the Internet expansion, adds one of those affected. Company spokesman Urs Durrer justifies the decision in times of austerity by saying that the company hopes to have to lay off as few employees as possible. From 2009, SF will have to operate with around eleven million francs less per year. As the company announced at the beginning of April 2006, this will lead to a reduction of 50 jobs.