The independent German-language web radio/podcast for Switzerland and Germany offers supplementary information from the websites of Druckmarkt Schweiz, "gib "Zürich, wenke.net, deltafuture and mediaforum. Behind Printradio.info is the editor-in-chief of the trade journal Druckmarkt Schweiz, Hans-Georg Wenke. Printradio.info sees itself as a new industry service in German-speaking countries with reports and interviews on all aspects of print media production.

The Art Directors Club (ADC) Switzerland has awarded prizes to the most creative advertising campaigns of the past year and brought together the best examples in the yearbook. This year, it comes in the familiar look of M-Budget products - with the consent of Migros, of course. The book was designed by Publicis. On 304 pages, the yearbook lists the work that has been particularly successful in terms of advertising strategy, idea and implementation. The book is available from Wird Verlag or in bookshops. The subscription price is 118 francs.

Internet giant Google is introducing video advertising and is thus entering the battle against television for the lion's share of advertising budgets. The films are to be shown as still images and only play when the user clicks on them. "We're offering a very, very unobtrusive advertising product," said Gokul Rajaram of Google AdSense on Monday. "Only users who click on the ad will see the video." The new format is set to be rolled out in the coming days. Although the movie files themselves will not be placed on the Google search page, but only on partner sites, the data will be stored on Google's servers to make it easier for customers to use. Analysts do not yet expect Google's video advertising to become a successful business and thus a serious competitor to TV advertising. However, the new service will allow advertisers to test commercials on Internet users before they are shown on television.

The Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS) is awarding a media prize for the first time. The "Prix Excellence", endowed with 10,000 Swiss francs, goes in equal parts to the journalists Mark Livingston and Odette Frey. Livingston from Swiss Radio DRS is being honoured for his programmes "License to Clone" and "Cloning Research in Newcastle", Frey for her article "Ask your genes" in the news magazine "Facts".With the newly created media prize, the SAMS wants to recognize and promote the mediation work of journalists. One of the Academy's tasks is to promote dialog between medicine and society. In doing so, it is supported by journalists and researchers who prepare complex topics for a broad audience.

         
The advertising agency In Flagranti has hired three new employees. In addition to Regula Cajacob-Christen, Bettina Leiggener and Lorenz Killer are joining the team at the agency based in Lyss. Cajacob-Christen, who will be working as a consultant at In Flagranti, has previously worked for Lindt & Sprüngli, Migros Genossenschaftsbund, Intersport and Loeb, among others. Graphic designer Bettina Leiggener previously worked for Design Daniel Dreier, among others. Lorenz Killer, the new Deputy Head of Creation, has worked as an art director at Publicis, Lowe Direct and ipw Marketing.

The world's No. 1 car rental company is introducing a new customer loyalty program in Switzerland that will allow customers to save 30 percent on rental costs. The "Tieftax-Abo" costs 30 francs a year and looks like a credit card, according to a press release.

Motivate football fans and activate the fun factor. The innovative ThinkAthlon SMS solutions are available and ready to use just in time for the World Cup.Just in time for this year's World Cup, ThinkAthlon solutions for sponsors and organizers offer three innovative and interactive applications for better customer retention and marketing of products around the 2006 World Cup. With ThinkAthlon, you can run an SMS contest at the stadium or find a new name for the mascot.
  
ThinkAthlon is an interactive application based on SMS technology. ThinkAthlon solutions can be used to conduct voting, quizzes or mass brainstorming sessions. Ideally, these solutions are used at sporting events. Exemplary applications are e.g.
- A sponsor can host an interactive quiz on the scoreboard during halftime breaks. The spectators are directly involved via their cell phones without any waiting time. Thus, a real real-time lottery can be realized.
- The sports team can have the fan community vote directly and immediately on the name of the new mascot.
- Fans can submit music requests for halftime.
- Spectators can send messages such as wedding proposals, birthday congratulations, expressions of love, etc. and thus create their own intermission program
Participants in the ThinkAthlon Brainstormin, Quiz or Voting use their own cell phone to send an SMS via the normal cell phone network. The SMS messages sent are routed via an interface directly to the display board or to a video projector, LCD display, laser, or a combination of all display options. Thus, all SMS inputs are visible to all participants within seconds.
ThinkAthlon solutions build on existing on-site infrastructure, making them very affordable to deploy.
ThinkAthlon solutions can be deployed on all mobile networks worldwide.
The ThinkAthlon modules in detail:
- ThinkAthlon Brainstorming
- ThinkAthlon Quiz
- ThinkAthlon Voting
Background Information:

ThinkAthlon:
ThinkAthlon is a joint venture of Denkwerk Innovation GmbH (Zurich/Switzerland - http://www.denkwerk.biz) and FUTURE DREAMS GmbH i.Gr. (Höri near Zurich/Switzerland - http://www.FUTURE-DREAMS.com). The ThinkAthlon solutions consist of three different stand-alone modules, which can be used together or each alone. ThinkAthlon is based on SMS technology as an interactive application. The solutions allow, for example, brainstorming, voting, quizzes and the like to be displayed on all types of displays as output media using the cell phone as the input medium. The processing of the data is fully automated between input and output on the ThinkAthlon server. ThinkAthlon solutions can usually be activated within a few hours and can also be deployed at short notice. ThinkAthlon can be used worldwide in any cell phone network in which the sending of SMS messages is available.
Denkwerk Innovation GmbH:
Denkwerk Innovation GmbH is a service provider in the field of creativity and innovation.
FUTURE DREAMS GmbH i.Gr.:
FUTURE DREAMS GmbH i.Gr. provides services in the field of marketing, management, advertising and communication.

The "Solothurner Tagblatt" is expanding its editorial offering in the canton of Solothurn. From June, the local section of the newspaper will be supplemented with a page for the districts of Thal and Gäu. The editorial team has been expanded by 160 full-time equivalents to cover the two districts. It now comprises 16 editors. The Espace Media Groupe launched the "Solothurner Tagblatt" in the western part of the canton in the fall of 2001 as the head paper of the "Berner Zeitung". It thus entered the home territory of the "Solothurner Zeitung", which is now part of the "Mittellland Zeitung" network under the aegis of the "Aargauer Zeitung". In 2004/2005, the "Solothurner Tagblatt" achieved a certified circulation of 5010 subscribed copies. The BZ headline paper is therefore above the targets set by the publisher and editorial team, as reported by Espace Media Groupe.

Ringier journalist Frank A. Meyer criticized German journalism at the Hamburg congress of the journalists' association "Netzwerk Recherche". "The German media obviously see themselves as an independent power," said Meyer. Instead of fighting against powerful people who misuse their knowledge of power, journalists today are the powerful people who network to form an opinion cartel and use their craft to demonstrate their power, Meyer explained with regard to the BND affair, in which journalists allowed themselves to be bought for money or news goods or abused as informers. Meyer also advocated more mutual criticism in the newspapers and pleaded for journalistic pluralism. Instead of doing their own research, journalists were guided by what their colleagues had written.

Even in the digital world, free-to-air broadcasting must be preserved as an open and diverse communication platform for all citizens. This is what the committee chairmen of the 3sat partners ARD, ZDF, ORF and SRG SSR idée suisse demanded at their meeting in Munich. Access to public service offerings via all relevant platforms is the legitimate right of citizens. The rapid change in the media world due to the digitalization of technology on the one hand and the globalization and multiplication of content providers on the other presents those responsible for broadcasting with the task of setting the right course for the future. Citizens should not become dependent on purely commercially oriented companies that deliberately suppress free access. According to the 3sat broadcasters, public service broadcasting must also be able to fulfill its cultural and democratic mission on IT platforms.

Radio Liechtenstein posted a loss of 958,000 francs for the 2005 financial year. Only a surplus of 95,000 francs was budgeted. This loss is due in particular to restructuring costs of 183,000 francs and provisions and litigation risks of 257,000 francs. Income was also miscalculated. At CHF 2.9 million, around half a million francs less was received than budgeted. Due to unrealistic budgeting, advertising income also fell short of the forecast.
Expenses could only be reduced by around CHF 60,000 to just under CHF 3.5 million compared to the budget. In order to reduce costs, the Board of Directors reduced the number of editorial, moderation and marketing staff by 380 to 1830 full-time equivalents in 2005. A loss of CHF 216,000 is budgeted for 2006.

(pr) Rutschi AG is one of Switzerland's leading companies in the field of lettering technology. Whether vehicles, trains, facades, billboards, trade fair stands, construction panels, signs, shop windows, machines and much more with images, texts and logos - more than 50 years of experience, state-of-the-art processing technologies, the latest carrier materials and first-class specialists are the basis for successful work. The processing of self-adhesive films is a particular specialty. The new font store at http://www.rutschi.ch gives all customers and new customers the opportunity to order self-adhesive fonts for self-assembly conveniently and clearly via the Internet. There are 150 of the most common fonts in the Systemtext product line to choose from, all of which are cut with computer precision from quality 3M and Oracal foils. The fonts are produced and delivered within 24 hours. Detailed installation instructions help to place the texts perfectly in the intended location. Other specialties of Rutschi AG are labels, prints, antigraffiti, lightbox foils, banner displays, floor foils, street posters and and and...