With the Winter Olympics in Sochi, the World Cup in Brazil and the European Athletics Championships in Zurich, there were several major sporting events on the schedule last year. SRG invested a total of CHF 29.3 million in broadcasting rights and production costs for these events and other sporting events, according to a SRG statement. On the other hand, thanks to the sporting events - and the high-revenue summer months - advertising revenues increased for the first time in three years, by CHF 11.7 million. Various commissioned productions also had a positive impact. For example, SRG was commissioned by the Olympic Committee to produce all the Alpine ski races in Sochi. Additional revenues from this and other commissioned productions amounted to CHF 7.5 million.

More households, higher revenues

Fee revenues increased by CHF 7.2 million year-on-year and now stand at around CHF 1.2 billion. SRG justifies the increase primarily by the rise in the number of households paying reception fees. Personnel expenses rose by CHF 13.2 million to around CHF 685 million. SRG cites higher contributions to the pension fund in the wake of the reduction in the technical interest rate from 4 to 3.25 percent as the main reason. Overall, the operating amount last year was around 1.65 billion francs - compared with 1.62 billion francs the previous year. In the current year, the company intends to further increase efficiency, position itself for the digital age and, with strict financial planning, once again aim for a balanced result. The development of the advertising market following the abolition of the minimum euro exchange rate is uncertain, the statement said.

Exchange of daytime news presenters

In its review of the year, the SRG gives a positive assessment of the more intensive reporting on the other language regions and the support for Swiss films. The exchange of teams and presenters for "Tagesschau," "Telegiornale" and the French-speaking Swiss news program "19h30" received a lot of attention and praise. The nationwide broadcast of a series about the Red Cross also attracted a lot of attention.

SRG paid CHF 22.3 million to support Swiss films under an industry agreement. The effort paid off, the company writes: The two SRG co-productions "Spartiates" and "Usfahrt Oerlike" won the two competition prizes at the Solothurn Film Festival. The audience award at the Locarno Film Festival also went to an SRG co-production with "Schweizer Helden". With "Parvaneh," a short film co-produced by SRG was nominated for the 2015 Oscar. (SDA)

 

Income Statement SRG Headquarters	2014	2013
Reception fees	1'210'397	1'203'165
Commercial yield	370'647	348'485
Other income*	70'292	63'765
Revenue reductions	-182	50
Operating income	1'651'154	1'615'465
Personnel expenses	685'512	673'903
Program and production effort	628'906	592'945
Other operating expenses	253'945	249'857
Depreciation	79'476	79'810
Operating expenses	1'647'839	1'596'515
Operating result	3'315	18'950
Financial result	1'531	1'171
Company result	4'846	20'121

In 1000 francs

* Other income includes service income, federal contributions and other
Operating income

The annual report (annual report and accounts) will be submitted to the SRG Delegates' Meeting on April 24, 2015 for approval. The annual report will be published online. As of April 28, 2015, it will be available on the web at Srgssr.ch is switched on.

For a week, a prominently staged kick-off campaign demanded in pithy letters "Put an end to it." Various media have picked up on the theme over the past few days. As of today, it is clear who is behind it: "What you see is what you get" promises the new telecommunications provider Wingo with its market entry (Werbewoche.ch reported). Because the new brand wants to be there for everyone who doesn't want to worry about small print such as contract duration, but instead gets what they really want simply and straightforwardly at the click of a mouse - namely full performance for the money.

 

This is a campaign that was launched a year ago and has since won several awards in Asia. This is hardly surprising, as "3D on the Rocks" takes the whole ice cube culture to a new level. Until now, we were already delighted when someone picked simple crystal shapes out of silicone sleeves. Or threw flashing ice cubes into a drink. The Japanese are in a completely different league with their icy masterpieces. We take our hats off. Even if the production for a whole party community might be a little time-consuming. So back to the silicone case after all. (hae)

Last fall, the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) invited tenders for a campaign worth up to CHF 1.5 million. The aim is to make the new .swiss internet extension known to the general public. It is now clear which three agencies have been shortlisted for the lucrative contract, as the Handelszeitung reports. They are Farner Consulting, Ogilvy & Mather and CR Kommunikation. The companies now have until the end of April to submit the best proposal. The campaign is particularly interesting because the .swiss ending is one of the very few in the world that has a direct link to a country, says an insider. The info campaign, which has been awarded the contract, will run from June to September 2016. From this fall, applicants will be able to request an Internet address ending in .swiss if they can prove a clear connection to Switzerland, according to Bakom. The prices for the new .swiss ending are not yet known.

Weinbau Ottiger in Kastanienbaum near Lucerne is the largest winery in Central Switzerland and always good for a surprise. Like two years ago, when the striking "Ottiger-O" suddenly appeared. And now comes this sparkling wine, which is aimed in particular at a young, trend-conscious audience. Rosenstar developed the name of the wine and a product identity that is closely aligned with the existing communications presence.

The "Ottiger-O" on the label, carton and on all product-specific communication media is hand-drawn this time, the typography comic-like. In addition, the product personality of the Petit Mousseux is characterized by witty, clichéd character traits. The wine speaks directly to customers, revealing itself to be a true French charmer that charms its audience with an accent.

The Petit Mousseux exudes its charm on the packaging, in a short commercial, on a microsite, and on various additional communication media such as folding plates or matchboxes, all of which were realized by Rosenstar. And it's easy to believe him when he bluntly states: "I'm burning for you.

Lepetitmousseux.ch
 

Until his successor is found, the two deputy editors-in-chief Adriano Gerussi and Christian Albisser will take over his role on an interim basis.

Oliver Kuhn joined LZ Medien in June 2009, when he was responsible for the journalistic development of the new regional television station Tele 1. Since the launch of the station in 2010, he has been editor-in-chief and was responsible for the successful live broadcasts of the Lucerne carnival parades, election broadcasts and the Central Swiss Wrestling and Alpine Festival, which were very well received by the public.

The Central Swiss television station Tele 1 went on air for the first time on February 1, 2010. Tele 1's program focuses on information and culture as well as regional reports.

Sacha Batthyany will write about politics, business and society in the U.S. together with the Süddeutsche Zeitung's correspondent in Washington, Nicolas Richter. Batthyany has worked as an editor at the magazine since the beginning of 2008. Before joining the magazine, he worked as a reporter for NZZ am Sonntag, among other publications. The 40-year-old also teaches creative writing as a lecturer at the MAZ Swiss School of Journalism.

Boldomatic is the text-only social network born and raised in the city of Zurich. Dubbed the Instagram for text, Boldomatic features hundreds of cheeky, provocative and sexy sayings every day. "Why not print one of them on condoms?" thought Ceylor.

On April 13, the Ceylor Contest "Love Forever" starts on Boldomatic. For five days, creative users are invited to post their quotes, statements, puns and thoughts on the subject of sex and love on Boldomatic using the hashtags #loveforever #ceylor. For every post submitted and shared on Facebook, one franc (up to 1000 francs) will be donated to Aids-Hilfe Schweiz. The winner will be chosen by Ceylor and Boldomatic and their slogan will be printed on 2000 Ceylor condoms. There is also a sequel to the contest and two iPad Minis to be won.

This campaign encourages people of all ages to think about safer sex, sexuality and love and at the same time enjoy playing with language. The social media campaign was developed by Boldomatic and is carried out by Boldomatic.

 

"To be able to work for an NGO whose goal is to create future prospects for disadvantaged children and their environment worldwide is a particularly wonderful challenge for me," says the 57-year-old Zurich native. Heinz Mazenauer was an editor at Blick for 18 years, then a partner at the media agency EQ, a consultant at Goal for advertising and public relations, a freelance media consultant and PR journalist, and most recently a marketing copywriter at World Vision Switzerland.

In the future, World Vision Switzerland's ambassadors from the worlds of business, politics, sports and entertainment will be able to show more of their face to the public and get involved in specific projects depending on their personal affinity. The children's aid organization can count on numerous well-known personalities from the circle of around 70,000 current donors.
 

A successor for the presidency has also already been found. Elmar Ledergerber was elected president of Zürich Tourism in 2009 and is now relinquishing the post after six years. "With this, I will take a small step further toward retirement," Ledergerber told Zurich's premium station Radio 1. "I would like to travel and have more time." Ledergerber added that he is glad that it is already clear who will succeed him. However, he could not yet communicate the name publicly.

Benenden Insurance is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2015 and boasts that it has been looking after the well-being and health of its customers since 1905. A proud age. The company is correspondingly proud to have witnessed and promoted humanity's fitness efforts over this period of time. Because healthy customers are good customers.

The result is a commercial that not only provides a history lesson in fitness. It also shows that the moves may have become more effective over the years - but they have also become noticeably less elegant and stylish. And after Zumba, one thing is clear: it can only get better. Let's see what Benenden has in store for us at its 150th anniversary. (hae)
 

Swiss television SRF was affected in nine cases, as the UBI announced on Tuesday. Four complaints were directed against SRF radio broadcasts. Radio and television in French-speaking Switzerland (RTS) was the subject of five complaints and television in Ticino was the subject of one complaint. One complaint concerned both SRF and RTS television. As in the previous year, the UBI also upheld two complaints last year. One concerned a report by Radio SRF on the relocation of the Weatherford oil company. The SVP lodged a complaint against the report, which linked the move to the immigration initiative it had launched. The second case concerned a Radio RTS broadcast on the Syrian conflict. In both cases, the UBI found a violation of the prohibition of objectivity.

While the UBI's workload remained constant last year, the situation was different for the upstream ombudsman offices: A total of 564 complaints were received there. This is more than twice as many as in the previous year (237). The significant increase is due to two cases: On the one hand, to a Post Rundschau" on the Gripen fighter jet, and the talk show duel between Roger Schawinski and satirist Andreas Thiel. This means that only 3.5 percent of all cases were referred to the complaints body. In its annual report, the UBI states that this figure underscores the positive function of the ombudsman's offices. (SDA)