The television channel UI TV is the first in Switzerland to offer a live stream on the internet. This means that even Swiss people around the world now have the opportunity to watch U1. According to a press release, this is due to the concept of only broadcasting its own content. Next, U1 is planning to expand its offering via specialty channels on the Internet. The first of these will be a program for pop and folk music - 24 hours a day.

Following an agency evaluation, the Zurich-based communications agency ViznerBorel is realizing the entire communications presence for Schaffhauser Nachrichten. The first measure is the relaunch campaign for the newspaper, which will appear more colorful and with more regional content from May 1. The mandate also includes a reader and advertising campaign as well as the redesign of all advertising material.

Miranda Bammert (39) is the new Managing Director of Aettenschwil-based ZMS/PMA Medienbeobachtung as of April 1. She was previously Head of Marketing and Sales. Stephan Wyss (43) will take over as Head of Sales Switzerland. Wyss previously worked at Wemf, where the advertising expenditure specialist introduced the AIS Advertising Index Switzerland, according to a press release. ZMS/PMA employs 60 people and specializes in the systematic monitoring of print and online media, radio and TV.

Entries can now be submitted for the London International Awards Advertising & Design 2006 (LIA). The competition is open for the categories Design, Integrated Media, Interactive Media, Poster & Outdoor, Print, Radio and Television/Cinema. The Advertising & Design jury is chaired by Graham Warsop from The Jupiter Drawing Room in South Africa, the Interacive jury is chaired by Daniel Bonner from AKQA in London. The deadline for submissions is June 9.

The world's best-known brand Coca Cola is launching a new brand campaign with the slogan "Welcome to the Coke side of life": In the near future, silhouettes of Coke bottles in the company's colors will be dancing across TV screens and billboards. The idea is not new, but comes from Apple's iPod campaign. "We particularly liked the clarity of the advertising," said Coca Cola brand manager Katie Bayne at the launch of the campaign. In recent years, the company has not succeeded in establishing a slogan that is as catchy as the classics "It's the Real Thing", "Have a Coke and a Smile" or "You can't beat that feeling". According to a press release, some advertising experts are critical of the new strategy.

The positive result of the subsidiary LZ Medien Holding has already been announced in the NZZ balance sheet, and now the company is providing the figures for the successful year: turnover in 2005 rose by 10 million to 134.2 million francs compared to the previous year. Profit also increased by 18.9 percent compared to 2004, which corresponds to 11.8 million francs. The sales growth is mainly due to the sales of the new Calendar segment (11.5 million), the company wrote in a press release on Monday. However, advertising revenue fell by 5.4 percent to 45.7 million. Subscription and newsstand revenues also fell by 1 percent. Commercial and newspaper printing, on the other hand, continued to grow by 2.7 percent to 33.9 million. Shareholders' equity also increased from 77.2 million Swiss francs to 85.2 million. LZ Medien employed more staff in 2005 than in the previous year: 499 people shared 418 jobs, compared to 475 in 2004.

In the first three months of this year, German publishers published 3.3 percent more advertisements in magazines than in the same period last year. As the Association of German Magazine Publishers (VDZ) announced, despite the positive effect on the market, the soccer World Cup is not solely responsible for the latest developments. How sustainable the upturn is can only be determined after the World Cup, said Holger Busch, Managing Director Advertising Marketing, in an interview with Pressetext.

Bauer Media KG, the advertising and online marketing arm of the Bauer Publishing Group, has introduced a new form of advertising. Using lenticular film, the dynamic quality of moving images is integrated into consumer magazines. These so-called „Motioncards“ can display not only flip, zoom, or morphing effects but also short films, serving as both an informational and entertainment medium. This ad special was recently implemented for the Sheba product by Masterfoods in the women’s magazines Tina, Bella, and Laura, reports the industry magazine Werben und Verkaufen. To achieve this, a sticker was attached to the traditional ad. The postcard-sized Motioncard integrated in this way shows a short film that reveals the cat food menu in 20 sequences.

According to the MA-Net study published by Wermf on Friday, Switzerland has exceeded the four million mark in Internet usage for the first time. In the last 3 years, usage has increased by 14 percent. According to the study, 70 percent of Swiss residents aged 14 and over are now online. In the survey period between April 2005 and September 2004, 4.059 million people had used the Internet at least once. This means that the widest circle of users (WNK) now comprises around 70 percent of the Swiss population. The narrower user group (ENK) increased by 27 percent or 215,000 people compared to three years ago. The ENK includes people who use the Internet several times a week. Compared to the previous year, regular use of the Internet (ENK) increased the most in Ticino at 9%, while it rose by 5% in both German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland.
 
Decline in internet use at the workplace
For the first time, a decline in Internet use at work was recorded. However, use at home has continued to increase. According to Wemf, 64% of people use the internet from home and 46% at work or at their place of education. The order of use has not changed significantly: 82.6% used e-mail, 69.1% used search engines and 43.3% used the Internet to read daily news. The use of search engines has increased significantly, by 23%.
 
The biggest increases in the last three years have been in accessing online job vacancies (up 33%) and playing online games (up 32%). The use of timetable information has increased by 24%. At a low level with a user share of 5 percent, participation in online auctions has increased by 92 percent. Querying information about stock market prices (down 36%) and downloading programs (down 20%) have decreased over the past three years.

The NZZ Group describes 2005 as a year of upheaval and new beginnings. The financial result was modest, with a 38 percent drop in profit to CHF 13.6 million (2004: 21.8 million) and consolidated sales of CHF 482.3 million (2004: 547 million), a fall of 12 percent. The LZ-Medien Group and Tagblatt-Medien subsidiaries were the main profit generators. Neue Zürcher Zeitung AG, which again incurred start-up costs for the "NZZ am Sonntag" and online activities, just failed to turn a profit. However, the situation of the parent company has improved significantly compared to the two previous years, according to the communiqué. The NZZ is pinning its hopes on measures that have already been taken and implemented, including a renewal of the NZZ's appearance and the presentation of its content with a view to new reading habits. These should have a positive effect on the 2006 operating result. According to the Board of Directors' proposal to the Annual General Meeting on April 22, CHF 1.2 million will be used to pay an unchanged dividend of CHF 300 per share.
 
However, the NZZ Group announced on Friday evening that numerous changes had been made in 2005 that should bear fruit in the medium term. These include the partnership with PubliGroupe: since January 1, 2005, Publicitas has been responsible for marketing the advertising space in the NZZ and the "NZZ am Sonntag" under the name "NZZ Media". In cooperation with PubliGroupe, the expansion of the regional newspaper sector was driven forward: After acquiring a 20% stake in Zürichsee-Presse, publisher of the "Zürichsee-Zeitung", and a 40% stake in Zürcher Unterland Medien AG, publisher of the "Zürcher Unterländer", from PubliGroupe via Freie Presse Holding (FPH), the NZZ Group purchased 38% of Zürcher Oberland Medien AG, publisher of the "Zürcher Oberländer", from a private asset manager. In the course of the formation of the two business divisions NZZ and FPH, the management of the Group and the management of NZZ were made independent and personnel were renewed. The business printing division of the NZZ Group with the subsidiaries Zollikofer AG and NZZ Fretz AG was incorporated into the joint venture Swiss Printers AG of the NZZ Group (30% shareholding) and Ringier (70%). The start-up year of Swiss Printers AG was impacted by the restructuring expenses at Ringier Print Zofingen AG.
 
The year of disappointed hopesThe NZZ Group also reported that 2005 was a year of disappointed hopes on the advertising market. In addition to the decline in advertising business at the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" (-5.2%), the "Neue Luzerner Zeitung" (-6.5%) and the "St.Galler Tagblatt" (-8.9%), the "NZZ am Sonntag" and the "NZZ Folio" held up relatively well. With the exception of the "NZZ am Sonntag", which continued to grow, all titles recorded a slight decline in circulation figures in addition to the decline in advertising business. The readership figures were in markedly positive contrast to this, pointing to increased attention for NZZ products. However, the figures for the first two months of the current year indicate a slight upward trend in the advertising business, the NZZ Group continued. After a year of upheaval and new beginnings, the NZZ Group is well equipped to meet future challenges.

The graphic design book DBMB "Daddy Broke My Bike" by the four graphic designers from cosmic Bern Thom Pfister, Julien Junghäni, Roland Zenger and Philipp Lüthi has already received ADC awards in Switzerland. Now the ADC jury in Germany also met in Berlin on March 22 and 23, 2006. And again there was an award. The book was chosen from over 3,100 entries as one of the 400 best. The exhibits were presented at a worldwide unique exhibition, according to a press release.

Swiss Television (SF) is providing the "Graduate School of Business Administration Zurich" (GSBA) with advertising time worth CHF 400,000 on its first and second channels because a Kassensturz report on January 11, 2005 was one-sided. This out-of-court settlement ends a legal dispute. As reported by Swiss Television on Saturday, it will broadcast the GSBA commercials in advertising blocks that are not booked up with other commercials. This means that there will be no loss of revenue and license fee payers will not be harmed.
 
The legal dispute was triggered by a "Kassensturz" report on January 11, 2005, in which the consumer magazine aired a report about GSBA and made critical statements about the school. The school was unable to comment on these statements. GSBA claimed considerable economic damage in its complaint. In August, the Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television (UBI) came to the conclusion that the GSBA's position had not been presented appropriately. At the end of March, the Federal Supreme Court confirmed the UBI decision by dismissing an appeal by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG). SF also stated that a statement on the case would be read out in one of the next "Kassensturz" broadcasts.
 
The SonntagsZeitung, which asks how such a report could have come about in the first place, blames the journalistic lapse on the change of leadership at SF. Hansjörg Utz, head of Kassensturz for many years, had recently been appointed as the new head of 10vor10.