Statistics Because Wemf was sloppy when converting the advertising statistics to AIS, everything got mixed up. The statistics are a construction site.
At the beginning of the year, Wemf switched its advertising statistics for some newspaper categories to data from the Advertising Index Switzerland (AIS), as it wanted to put two statistics on the same basis and provide more precise data. Instead, there were surprising deviations. At the end of May, however, Wemf seemed to be back in control of the situation. Director René Schmutz said at the time (WW 22/05): "The errors have been identified and corrected. I assume that the data can now be compared with each other. "Shortly afterwards, however, new discrepancies emerged. For example, the May data suddenly contains a note stating that the 2005 volumes of Mittelland Zeitung and Aargauer Zeitung are not comparable with the previous year. Wemf does not provide any explanations.
Differences again and again
Inconsistencies were also discovered elsewhere: For example, Jörg Salzmann, publishing manager of the Walliser Bote, discovered that Wemf was reporting 30 to 50 fewer advertising pages per month for his paper in 2004 and 2005 than had been reported. Differences were also discovered at the St. Galler Tagblatt, the Freiburger Nachrichten, the Tages-Anzeiger, the Basler Zeitung and other titles. One publishing director, who does not wish to be named, grumbles: "Nothing is right at all. And concludes: "That's why we threatened Wemf to withdraw from the statistics."
Rolf Blum, Head of Statistics at Wemf, does not want to get involved in individual cases. However, he confirms that he has received "some complaints" and that there are still inconsistencies. The reason for this is the switch to AIS-based data.
But that alone does not explain such confusion - not in the print industry, which knows how to deal with currency changes. What is certain, however, is that the state clients, the Swiss Press Association and the Association of Swiss Advertising Companies, were not aware of the consequences when they decided to change over. On December 2, 2004, Wemf President Tobias Trevisan told Werbewoche that there would "hardly be a currency break". The industry now knows better, and René Schmutz also admits this: The AIS led to "a break in advertising statistics like when we changed the Mach Basic from the K1 to the LpA value".
Nevertheless, many publishers still do not know when the new currency will apply - from 2005 or from 2004? Both are possible, but it depends on the statistics you consult. This is because the Wemf published two sets of statistics in 2004: On January 14, 2005, it published the version tracked up to December 2004 according to the old system, whose volumes are comparable to those of 2003 or 2002.
The currency break therefore occurred at the turn of the year 2004/05, which meant that it would no longer have been possible to make comparisons with the previous year from the AIS-based data for January 2005. In order to still provide publishers with a comparison with the previous year, it recalculated the 2004 page volumes on the basis of the AIS data that was also available, took the
In February, the company removed the first published 2004 figures from its website and instead published the AIS-based volumes at the same time as those for January 2005.
With these new statistics, the currency break was elegantly brought forward to the turn of the year 2003/04. But with parallel statistics, a jumble of figures was almost inevitable. Part of the confusion mentioned at the beginning can be attributed to this alone. Blum, on the other hand, emphasizes that he announced the exchange campaign in an e-mail on 21 December. This is true, but he did so in such a casual manner that the implications of the move were almost lost on him shortly before Christmas. And even in Wemf press releases, there was at best talk of "innovations", but never of incomparable currencies.
In addition, Wemf only pointed out the start of the "innovation" once, in January, but since then has blurred the date of the currency break: anyone calling up the 2004 volumes automatically receives the incomparable data from 2003 without any warnings. Nevertheless, Blum wants to put an end to this automatism from the June data onwards: The break should become visible.
In other respects, too, the advertising statistics hardly correspond to the state of the art: six newspaper titles whose 2004 volumes Wemf did not reconsolidate according to AIS are not included.
will continue to be reported according to the old system. Even in 2005, "as a transitional solution," Blum reassures us. However, Wemf is systematically mixing cabbage and turnips without making a note of this anywhere.
Anyone who experienced the exemplary Wemf communication at the time of Mach Basic will get the impression that the institute underestimated the problem this time, then covered up the mistakes and finally wanted to pass the buck to the publishers. Many titles had not declared their volumes correctly, which made the switch to AIS necessary in the first place, Schmutz and Blum complain. This is undoubtedly true, but does not make their own actions any better.
However, Blum rejects the accusation of a cover-up: "I believed that we communicated sufficiently via e-mail. All the more so as e-mail is the only means of communication between Wemf and publishers when it comes to advertising statistics. However, we have since realized that we need to follow up and communicate further."
Blum will now "specify" the statistical guidelines and clarify each individual case. Reprogramming is also necessary in some publishers' accounts. From the fall, he then wants to approach each title again, evaluate an issue with each one and
Compare results.
Conclusion: The advertising statistics - contrary to Wemf's reassurances - are still far from balanced. There is still a lot of patching up to be done on this construction site.
Markus Knöpfli

Associations The theme of this year's Swiss Press Association Congress (from September 15 to 17 in Interlaken) is "The price and value of the media", with numerous well-known speakers joining Federal Councillor Hans Rudolf Merz. Editors-in-chief Res Strehle, Peter Rothenbühler and Norbert Neininger will discuss the increasing tendency to make the editorial section subservient to new forms of advertising with advertising expert Dominique von Matt. Denner CEO Philippe Gaydoul takes the imminent market entry of German discounters as an opportunity to reflect on the cult of cheapness and the "cheap is cool" mentality. Jean Frey major shareholder Tito Tettamanti sheds light on the tensions between media and politics from the perspective of an active media investor. Michael Ringier expresses "Thoughts of a publisher without a free newspaper", and association president Hanspeter Lebrument has announced a tour d'horizon entitled "Titanic Presse auf der Fahrt zum Eisberg".

Transport Jung von Matt/Limmat wishes those staying at home an entertaining summer with SBB The Swiss tend to be couch potatoes. Jung von Matt/Limmat wants to change that this summer. In the new campaign for SBB, little figures, like the ones you see on model railroads, spread a lot of vacation feeling and encourage people to get more exercise. The website www.tagesausfluege.ch offers over 170 tips for excursions in Switzerland during the summer months. The main themes are hiking, cycling and water. These three worlds of experience also form the subjects of the campaign. "We wanted to present the offers as simply and intelligently romanticized as possible," explains CD Alexander Jaggy. The tips on www.tagesausfluege.ch inspire those at home to explore and experience the most beautiful corners of Switzerland. The comprehensive website was designed and conceived by the Maxomedia agency. With a very clear navigation, you can quickly access the appealing tips and can just as easily linger over the offers. And for quiz fans, there is a competition that brings the excursion tips back into play in a fun way. The campaign can be seen on posters and advertisements in Switzerland. There are also poster formats at train stations, an e-board spot and a flyer.
Andreas Panzeri

Entertainment In the USA, satellite radio is taking over from commercial stations - without advertising. Howard Stern is the enfant terrible of American radio.entertainment In the USA, satellite radio is taking over from commercial stations - without advertising. Howard Stern is the enfant terrible of American radio. Because Stern has been repeatedly fined by the FCC for his crude remarks and drastic descriptions of sex scenes on air and will have nothing to laugh about for the next few years under the Bush administration, the self-proclaimed "S-hock Jock" has sought refuge with more friendly colleagues: the satellite radio station Sirius, which is currently expanding rapidly and recording annual growth rates of over 300 percent in both subscribers and revenue.
Until recently, few people thought it possible that media-saturated Americans would shell out extra dollars and pay twelve dollars a month for a radio service. But nationwide digital radio has something that many others no longer have: commercial-free airtime. Of the 120 digital channels on offer, all 65 music channels are completely ad-free, while the 55 talk and information channels feature sponsorship and the occasional commercial clip. What's more, reception is interference-free, even if you move across national borders with your satellite receiver in the car. "I'm a believer in the success of subscription channels," says Peter Fader, marketing professor at Wharton College at the University of Pennsylvania, emphasizing the success of cable and pay TV: "It always wins."
Lance Armstrong on SiriusSirius' competitor, XM Radio in Washington D.C., has a similar program offering. XM launched a year earlier, at the end of 2001, and clearly has more subscribers: 3.5 million for XM and its 152 channels, compared to Sirius' 1.5 million. Sirius recently catapulted itself repeatedly into the headlines by attracting more prominent names: superstars such as hip-hop celebrity Eminem and professional cyclist Lance Armstrong host individual broadcasting slots. Media star Martha Stewart will offer a listener-oriented lifestyle channel from the fall, and the car racing circus Nascar will be launched one year after Howard Stern, at the beginning of 2007. This move gives Sirius a head start in the two most important areas of the industry: "There are exactly two things that make a medium successful," says Jim Carnegy, editor-in-chief of the industry magazine Radio Business Report. "Content is king and presentation is queen."
XM is focusing more on innovative marketing deals to promote the brand and offer advertisers new sponsorship opportunities. Coffee house chain Starbucks, for example, launched its own music station called Starbucks Hear Music on the XM platform and will roll out its radio service to 4,000 US stores this year. The XM operator's logo will also be featured on coffee cups and brochures. "In the beginning, it looked like the trend would make it harder for advertisers," says Denise Garcia from research institute Gartner G2. "But on the contrary, it could become an interesting opportunity for them to create content that they can then sponsor exclusively." Both companies have signed exclusive deals with car dealers to install their equipment in the cars.
XM Radio has also concluded a cooperation agreement with AOL. Subscribers to the Internet service will be able to listen to XM Radio free of charge via the Internet. Those who do not use AOL will have to pay a small monthly fee. Marketing professor Fader is convinced that one of the great strengths of satellite radio is its diversity. "They even have channels for minorities, such as homosexuals," he says. "There are many niches and they will find them."
By cell phone or iPodThe fact that satellite radio could become a success is reinforced by the efforts of both providers to explore other platforms: in the foreseeable future, the digital channels should also be receivable by cell phone or portable digital audio devices such as the iPod. Even video streaming, which is primarily intended for the back seats of cars, is to be introduced. According to a study by the two research companies Arbitron and Edison Media Research, 14 percent of Americans already own an iPod or other portable digital audio device. The majority of them are under 35 years old. 36 percent of Americans say they regularly listen to the radio on the Internet. But this trend could also pose a problem for satellite radio: "Internet radio is becoming more and more popular, and if you can have radio for free via iPod, then satellite radio is in serious trouble," says Tom Taylor from the industry service Inside Radio. "It will depend on content. And who knows what will be invented tomorrow."
Gerti Schön

Oliver Classen on investigative media journalism on both sides of the Atlantic. "This scandal is the Watergate of the First German Television," judges even the usually reserved FAZ, referring to the outrageous surreptitious advertising practices of the ARD production company Bavaria. These were uncovered and denounced at the beginning of June after years of research by the German industry service epd medien. A scoop of the purest quality. Chapeau, dear colleagues! Things are much more relaxed south of the Rhine in this respect. In mid-May, OFCOM launched an investigation into the SF-DRS format "Traumjob" on suspicion of the same offense. However, it was not editorial mole work that led to this, but a simple query of what could be seen on the screen for weeks in terms of suspected tying deals. So is Michael Haller's thesis (see interview on p. 29) that Swiss investigative journalism is "a contradiction in terms" true?
It seems that way - at least from a German perspective. After all, ex-Spiegel man Dieter Degler, who advised Tamedia on the relaunch of Facts last year, also complained about the fear of local researchers of perhaps making themselves unpopular or even getting their hands dirty. Naturally, this is especially true when it comes to media topics. After all, who wants to get into trouble with their next potential employer? Especially if they more or less discreetly point out this relationship of dependency. Believe me, I speak from experience.
And the Marienhof idyll has taught us something else: that in the age of programming, bartering and other so-called "innovative forms of advertising", vigilant, critical self-observation by the media is more necessary than ever. Hence an appeal to local publishers: professionalize your media reporting - to prevent Watergate, so to speak. And one to your colleagues: In addition to chutzpah, you also need staying power to catch big fish. So let's use the summer vacation to get some air!
> Oliver Classen, Editor

The pressure of the advertising market is making the boundaries between publishers and editors ever more permeable - even for advertising: the NZZ does not recognize media partnerships, the editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal never advertises for his paper. The German quality press also finds it difficult at times. But for most media it is common practice: when it comes to big business with major advertisers, it is almost normal for the editorial management to sit at the negotiating table. We are talking about the commercialization of editorial offices, where advertisers encounter little resistance when they want to place their messages in the editorial environment (see page 21). Gone are the days when advertising salespeople and journalists met with skepticism, the former in the knowledge that their job secures the existence of the paper, the latter because journalistic independence per se takes precedence over disdainful economic constraints. "This garden-variety thinking no longer works these days," says Rico Brazerol, Managing Director of Contract Media Publishing AG (CMP). Times have dawned where cooperation between editors and publishers must be institutionalized. "As editor-in-chief, you sometimes pay a visit to a customer," says Brazerol candidly.
CMP had been commissioned by Landbote to carry out an analysis, according to Brazerol three months before the 10000 copies of the falsified circulation became known, in order to free the traditional Winterthur paper from stagnation and (according to reports) internal communication paralysis. The intervention with the signature of CMP Chairman of the Board Sacha Wigdorovits, the former editor-in-chief of Blick, who had prepared the launch of 20 Minuten among other things, established an internal switchboard to make the Landbote more attractive to advertisers.
In future, the publisher and editorial team will hold regular meetings to plan supplements, media partnerships and joint campaigns. "Editors and publishers should support each other - in attracting new readers, but also advertisers," explained Denise Pernet, publishing director of the Landbote, on the forthcoming total reorganization of the paper next September (WW 26/05). The editorial management will always be present for important transactions with key customers. "I am well aware of the problem," Pernet says in response to the question about maintaining editorial independence. This is to be laid down internally in a binding charter.
Platform for sponsorsWhat takes place in a regular weekly meeting at Landbote has long been a matter of course elsewhere. "For us, such meetings are the most normal thing in the world," explains Peter Buri, Editor-in-Chief of the Aargauer Zeitung. However, the editor-in-chief does not visit customers and is not involved in negotiations with key accounts such as Media Markt, Migros or Coop. But under the pressure of dwindling advertisements, the Aargauer Zeitung also had to come up with something new and has been serving a growing number of sponsors since June 1 with the multimedia project Alltag (WW 22/05).
Peter Hartmeier, Editor-in-Chief of the Tages-Anzeiger, also admits that there are agreements between the editorial team and the publisher. "There are ongoing discussions with important customers and advertising agencies", although discounts are not the issue. Customers are more interested in journalistic content or the strategy and future of the Tages-Anzeiger. Hartmeier is not worried about the journalistic independence of Tamedia's flagship; maintaining contact with customers is a matter of course for him. "When I talk to car importers today, we talk about traffic": the allusion to the 20-year boycott of advertisements by car importer Walter Frey against the Tagi, which used to be branded as anti-car, is not without a certain amount of self-irony.
But the question is, how far should such informal contacts go, how far should publishers and editors come closer together at the cost of a possible dilution of agenda setting and editorial autonomy?
More coordination desired "Editors and publishers should generally work more closely together and jointly define their target audience," says Pepe Wyss, Managing Director of the NZZ subsidiary Freie Presse Holding, whose parent company places editorial independence above all else and where editorial and publishing cooperation takes place strictly on special pages or in supplements. For Wyss, however, it is clear that the editorial teams in the print media are split into different departments and need more coordination today. This makes it clear who deals with which topics. Wyss also believes that new forms such as the aforementioned everyday project of the Aargauer-Zeitung are worth examining. "It is completely legitimate for print media to look for new forms, provided it is clearly stated to readers what they want." Whether this is actually the case is doubtful.
For Josef Trappel, Head of the Media Institute at the University of Zurich, the commercialization of editorial offices is a problem that arises primarily through the connection with online media. "On the internet, the separation between publishers and editors has become very blurred, and this culture has a knock-on effect on print products."
Editors are too uncritical of this phenomenon. But commercialization also has its limits. According to Trappel, publishers are walking a tightrope: too much commercialism undermines the credibility of a medium and thus destroys the trust of the audience, which ultimately leads to a slump in subscriptions. "Credibility is our greatest asset, we have to make sure that it is not lost," agrees AZ Editorial Director Peter Buri.
The extent to which the everyday project contributes to strengthening the credibility of the editorial team remains to be seen. Buri is more concerned with advertising in the regional area, with the placement of PR articles in connection with new store openings, a problem he shares with many of his colleagues in the daily press. And in many places, it is the proliferation of advertisements on the pages of newspapers that is more of a concern for editors than their independence.
Peter Hartmeier doesn't exactly enjoy the colorful ads that sometimes push the editorial content of the Tages-Anzeiger to the margins. "It's unaesthetic," he says, using an adjective he doesn't want to see printed here to illustrate his point. "Otherwise I'll hear it again from the publisher."
René Worni

The Basel advertising agency Bluegummy Marketing Communications has won the budget of the Minerva Schools Basel. It beat out two competitors in a competitive presentation.schools First work will be on display this fall.

Outdoor advertising The government of the Canton of Thurgau has submitted a ban on advertising for alcohol and tobacco for consultation, thus implementing a motion that the Grand Council declared to be of considerable importance in summer 2003. The bill prohibits poster advertising for alcohol and tobacco on public property and on private property that can be seen from public property.

The Zurich media company Tamedia, the marketer Radiotele and the SRG are founding a consortium to promote Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) in German-speaking Switzerland.Radio They have signed a letter of intent to this effect. The three partners will participate equally in the expansion of a second DAB range. The first stage is planned for 2006 in the conurbations of Zurich, Basel and Berne. According to SRG radio coordinator Marc Savary, the nine broadcasting slots are to be filled preferentially with new programs.

Retail I The Walliseller agency FCB Leutenegger Krüll (FCBLK) has won a project contract from Carrefour and has been commissioned with the advertising measures for the opening of the new wholesale store in Losone. At the beginning of July, Carrefour will take over Mercato Cattori, one of the best-known hypermarkets in Ticino, and, according to FCBLK, convert it into the most modern Carrefour store.

Sat 1 Switzerland and Viva Switzerland have been allowed to broadcast their controversial telephone lottery programs again for the time being.TV The Federal Office of Communications (Bakom) had ordered their immediate discontinuation as they were in breach of the Lottery Act. The two broadcasters appealed the decision to the Appeals Commission. This has now granted the appeal suspensive effect. The broadcasts may therefore be shown again until a final decision is made on the matter. However, Bakom intends to appeal the suspensive effect to the Federal Supreme Court.

Marketer Will Publicitas succeed in bringing a dozen radios under its wing? Doubts are justified.
As reported last week, the One Pool was terminated by three radios on time and "as a precaution" at the end of 2005. The other pools remained quiet. But appearances are deceptive: two radios are also on the move from Pool 2000, but the pool members there have used a trick to make the harmony last longer: On June 30, they decided to postpone the six-month notice period by a few weeks. And at Swiss Radio Pool, whose contract runs until the end of 2006, things only remained quiet because any termination at the end of 2005 - regardless of whether it takes place in June, July or August - would be non-contractual anyway, so there is no hurry.What all the radios willing to leave have in common is that they belong to media houses with which Publicitas has a lease. Specifically, these are the radios Basel 1, BE1, Grischa, 32, Argovia, and apparently also Pilatus, Aktuell and Ri. However, these radios alone do not constitute a pool that would be acceptable to P. According to reports, the P is aiming to cover the centers of Basel, Bern and Zurich with two market players each, which is why it will also try to include 24, Basilisk, Energy Zurich and ExtraBern.
Unstable business
The main question, however, is why all these radio stations - especially those of Tamedia, Goldbach Media and Espace Media - should offer P a hand. What can the P lure them with? Cross-media with print? Hardly. A combination with cinema would be more interesting - a project that has long been in the drawers of PubliGroup subsidiary Cinecom. However, there is no information on this.
However, the standby mode for pool terminations shows how unstable the matter still is, not least because of the many disputants involved among the radios. Time is also pressing: the existing pools want to know where they stand by mid-August, as they want to present their rates on Radioday on August 30.
It is therefore quite possible that P underestimated the differences in the radio scene.
Markus Knöpfli