The management team of Carat Switzerland will be complemented by Beat Krebs (previously OMD Zollikerberg) as of the beginning of May.Corinna Schneider, previously Managing Director Buying & Research, will leave the agency at the end of May. From this date on, Managing Director Jane Borgstrom will integrate Buying & Research into her division at executive level and devote more time to strategic tasks. As both Borgstrom and Schneider confirmed, they are parting on the best of terms and at Schneider's request. In addition to Borgstrom and Krebs, Karin Baatsch (Carat Division) and Bruno Sterki (Finance) will continue to be part of the four-person management team. The new Head of TV will be Hans-Georg Bardohl, previously Research Manager TV. Rumors have been circulating in recent days about an alleged "debacle" at Carat Switzerland: According to this, "within a few months" 12 of 35 employees had quit, customers were dissatisfied, the agency had lost several pitches and Carat Switzerland was to be dissolved. That's why Alexander Ruzicka, CEO of Carat Europe, was in Zurich last week.
According to Borgstrom, Ruzicka did travel to Zurich, but for a routine visit. There is no question of a closure. Currently, the workforce consists of 38 people, one of whom is in a (self-) dismissed position. Also, only about 6 employees have left the company in the past six months. Borgstrom knows nothing about dissatisfied customers, and the last pitch was lost in December. The company has just won a new budget, the watch company Parmigiani (mk).

The Igora cooperative for aluminum recycling continues to have its campaigns created by the Zurich agency Bonaparte.Etat-NewsIgora stays with Bonaparte The longtime supervisor retained the upper hand in a competitive presentation - "thanks to a clever strategy and surprising implementation," according to consulting head Heinz Blaser. First results are to be seen soon.
M&C Saatchi pushes GE in Europe U.S. conglomerate General Electric (GE) has hired London-based M&C Saatchi to boost its profile in Europe. It is the first time GE has awarded a group budget for Europe, according to Adage Global. GE's European business generated $24.6 billion in revenue last year - about one-fifth of the group's total.
Rapp Collins mails for Adobe The Hamburg dialog agency Rapp Collins/Direct Friends has been entrusted with the direct marketing and e-mail marketing budget of U.S. software company Adobe throughout Europe, as Horizont reported. As the international lead agency, it is responsible for managing below-the-line communications in twelve European countries.
Sony has B2B promoted in Europe Electronics giant Sony is entrusting Delaney Lund Knox Warren (DLKW), London, with the $14 million account of its Broadcast & Professional division in Europe. It includes Sony's B2B products such as videoconferencing systems, projectors, plasma screens and security equipment.

The sensitivity of advertisers to feel the signs of the times with brush and penA new appearance for the Italian scooter Vespa traces an attitude to life that elated Italian minds after the Second World War. To support the sustainability of the idea, the Zurich agency Wirz, which conceived the appearance, illustrated the new visuals in pin-up style. It is not the only campaign that currently relies on a visual means of expression that had its great time in advertising of the forties, fifties and still at the beginning of the sixties of the last century. However, the relatively sudden accumulation of illustrated advertising in Switzerland is not a simple remake or a new retro trend. It could already be observed at the beginning of the eighties and in the mid-nineties. In other words, at times when society was suffering from a malaise, just as it does today. page 12

In TV-crazy North America, the fun-filled "TV Turnoff Week" has paradoxically long since acquired cult status. This year, the boycott action, which will take place for the eighth time next week, even enjoys government support. In Europe, however, advertising and media critics still find it difficult to accept such collective abstinence.
Two subversive commercials are running on CNN these days. One shows nothing more than a black matte screen with a running clock that displays the incessantly passing time of life. The punch line of the 30-second image breakdown is: "Don't waist any more of your time. Turn your TV off - now, and at least for one week."
In the other Adbusters spot (see article on page 15), we see a snub-nosed girl huddled in front of the flicker box, watching a thoroughly representative U.S. program with ever-larger eyes. In the midst of the purchase requests, cannon thunder and bed moans, a sonorous voice from off-screen finally asks: "Where does she get her social understanding of her role? Who teaches her values and worldview? Whose child is she, yours or the TV stations'?" Since any answer is superfluous in view of the fascinated young viewer, the subsequent appeal is not without effect: "Take responsibility for your children. Done funny - done watching TV."
Even more remarkable than these two insistent "uncommercials" is the fact that CNN is broadcasting them at all. Until the year before last, all attempts by the highly professional anti-advertisers to buy timeslots on the major American networks for their "TV Turnoff Week," launched in 1994 and taking place this year from April 22 to 28, failed.
Even the Minister of Health shuts down for a week
In the short term, according to Adbusters founder Kalle Lasn, the campaign, which has since become an alternative social ritual, is intended to bring about "a noticeable reduction in viewer ratings"; the long-term goal, however, is "to raise the quality of life and self-determination of our media-infested fellow human beings". No wonder, then, that ABC, CBS and NBC have so far steadfastly refused to allow these Trojan horses to enter their commercial block race tracks.
But even in Europe, where British, French and Scandinavian activists in particular are advertising "TV Turnoff Week" via the Internet and flyers, Lasn and his mostly volunteer comrades-in-arms have so far been rebuffed with their "Uncommercials.
The fact that this lockout strategy (which, it should be noted, violates the right to freedom of expression) is counterproductive in the long run is shown by the growing number of North Americans who follow the call for abstinence precisely because of this boycott, which is of course made public by Adbusters. This year, even the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services is showing solidarity with "Greenpeace for the Head" (self-advertisement) - for purely public health reasons, of course. After all, in the "couch-potato" nation of the USA, overweight and obesity rank second among the most frequent preventable causes of death.
Excessive TV consumption - in the average American household, the flicker box is on for more than seven (!) hours a day - also has psychological collective consequences. The most relevant for the media society, but at the same time also the most controversial, is the increased use of violence by TV junkies. Additional water on this mill of TV critics was recently directed by a proof in the renowned science magazine Science that TV consumption and willingness to use violence are "directly proportional" among adult US citizens. Even if this correlation seems somewhat polemical and sweeping, the fact is that a twelve-year-old in the land of unlimited opportunity has seen an average of over 17,000 screen deaths.
More controlled dispensing of the number one popular drug?
In our country, this figure and the associated pressure to suffer and act is (still) significantly lower. For this reason, television boycotts have not been a serious issue in German-speaking countries since the seventies, when they were critical in all social issues. The last prominent politician in our latitudes to publicly advocate a more controlled release of the people's number one drug was Helmut Schmidt.
His "Plea for a TV-free Day" of 1978 triggered a hurricane of indignation at the time, before the liberalization of the media market. Actors, trade unionists and, above all, budding TV entrepreneurs vehemently resisted such a culturally pessimistic attitude and superintendent-like paternalism. The former German chancellor and current co-editor of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit, however, was not impressed by this and continued to warn undauntedly - and with wise foresight for the Murdochs and Berlusconis of this world - against this "medium with which future Caesars will dig themselves into people's souls.
But even in Switzerland, TV skeptics do not yet have a significant political lobby. And this despite the fact that one of the few avowed TV abstainers is Christoph Blocher. His reasoning ("I'm not going to let just anyone talk into my living room") sounds, as usual, a bit simple, but for once quite plausible.
That is also the opinion of Bernhard Chiquet, a media educator from Basel. He is one of the few official Swiss participants in this year's worldwide switch-off campaign, listed in the online activist directory of adbus ters.org. "More and more mothers and fathers are resigning themselves in the face of their children's screen addiction. With this voluntary, playful food for thought, I would like to try to sensitize my students and their parents to this problem," he says.
To this end, Chiquet has announced a kind of abstinence competition within the school. The winner - in good educational tradition - will receive a book voucher. This idea has long since been expanded into a nationwide program in America. Its name is "More reading, less TV. Its sponsor is the Internet-based "TV Turnoff Network" foundation.
More anti-TV sites:

www.tvturnoff.org
(USA)
www.whitedot.org
(United Kingdom)
www.antipub.net
(France)
www.uschi-braun.de
(Germany)

Adbusters fight back with the weapons of advertisingTo throw sand into the economic gears of consumer and media society: this is the declared goal of Adbusters (a word combination of "advertising" and "to bust"), founded by Kalle Lasn in Vancouver in 1990. The ingenious means for this advertising-critical purpose are called "Subvertisments" or "Uncommercials" and are parodies of real existing image campaigns of American global brands such as Philip Morris, Camel, Coca-Cola, Nike or Calvin Klein.A subtle form of system critique
This strategy is much funnier and therefore more effective than the morally insensitive counter-advertising, which is mainly advocated in church circles or by fundamentalist pedagogues. In the German-speaking world in particular, this position is occasionally propagated in satirical magazines such as Titanic or Pardon. However, their mostly hand-crafted slogans and subjects attack the opponent head-on and therefore usually come across as crude, uninspired and banal - in other words, they miss their mark.
In "Subvertising," on the other hand, the aesthetics and image of the original are reversed with witty irony by creative professionals who at some point fell away from commercialism and, with Adbusters, run the world's first anti-advertising agency.
"Lasn calls this subtle form of system criticism "distorting advertising messages beyond recognition. Ideologically, "the last partisans of the communication society" (New York Times) can hardly be located, despite their carefully cultivated rebel image. This impression is confirmed by the supreme adbuster in his program pamphlet Culture Jam, which is unfortunately not (yet?) available in German: "We're not left or right, we're just straightforward." A recipe that could easily come from an advertiser's concept book... Oliver Classen
Kalle Lasn: Culture Jam. How to Reverse America's Suicidal Consumer Binge - And Why We Must. Harper Collins, New York 2001.

He achieved a lot, was proactive and pugnacious: Now Fredi Schwab, director of the Swiss Association of Advertisers (SWA), has to take his hat off after five years of service.The SWA communiqué reports that they are parting ways by mutual agreement. The departure will take place in stages. According to Gérard Stalder, president of the SWA, Schwab will be in charge of the two projects Suisa negotiations and RTVG proceedings until the end of September 2002. Schwab's successor with immediate effect will be Jürg Siegrist. He has been active in the communications industry for 30 years in leading positions in the field of commissioning (head of advertising at Bell AG) and in agencies (including as a member of the executive board of Euro RSCG).
Schwab's departure did not come without incidental noise: According to research by WerbeWoche, differences between Schwab and the board under Gérard Stalder were partly to blame for Schwab's departure. "Mr. Schwab had the desire to build up a competence network, we thought this did not suit us," says Stalder. However, he does not want to hear about irreconcilable differences between the board and Schwab.
Schwab plans to set up a competence network for interim management and coaching in marketing and communications. It is to be realized as an AG by the fall. (af)

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has hired McCann-Erickson, Geneva, for its repositioning, branding and communications.Etat-News Uno hires Geneva-based McCann As part of the Uno, the ITU is responsible for coordinating the development, standardization and regulation of global telecommunications. McCann-Erickson will work for the ITU and the ITU Telecom exhibition division, which organizes major events such as the World Telecom trade fair.
Ivony refreshes Saia-Burgess CD The young Zurich-based design agency Ivony has been awarded the overall corporate design budget by Saia-Burgess Electronics Holding. As part of the realignment of its image, the manufacturer of switching and control mechanisms intends to implement its entire brand communication more consistently. Now that the brand management principles have been redefined and the logo and design fundamentals have been developed, Ivony is embarking on the comprehensive redesign of its communicative presence. The development and implementation of the global corporate design in print and online also includes a concept for the company's entire product literature.

In 2001, Publisuisse took in less advertising money and feels an upswing after the demise of Tele 24 and TV 3By Markus Knöpfli Although it booked 7.4% less income from TV advertising last year, Publisuisse is optimistic about the future: more is already being invested in TV again. What's more, competitors TV 3 and Tele 24 have left the market.
While gross sales in the Swiss advertising market decreased by 3% in 2001 compared with the super advertising year 2000, investment in the
TV advertising increased by 5.4% gross. However, Publisuisse, SRG's advertising sales company, did not feel any of this. It generated 7.4% less in TV advertising. Of the net advertising revenues of the SRG stations, CHF 192.4 million came from German-speaking Switzerland, CHF 92.2 million from French-speaking Switzerland, and
12.9 million from Ticino. SF 2 was the only SRG station to close on a positive note, with an increase of as much as 2.4% over 2000.
"We didn't have a particularly good year," says Publisuisse Director Ingrid Deltenre as a result. Publisuisse's net income amounted to 298.9 million francs, 22.6 million less than in 2000 and as much as 8 million less than in 1999. TV 3 and - to a lesser extent - Tele 24 were the main "culprits" here, in addition to the downturn in the economy. "TV 3 cost us quite a bit," admits Deltenre. Publisuisse now pays CHF 267 million of its net income to SRG, CHF 31 million less than in 2001.
Viewers return - especially to SF 2
Deltenre can nevertheless identify one bright spot: The market shares of SRG-TVs have remained stable at over 35% in all parts of the country over the past ten years, even though the number of receivable TV channels has tripled and TV usage has barely increased.
For the current year, Deltenre sees fair weather clouds again. In the first four months (except February), sales were up on the same period in 2001, and in April they were even 10% higher. Overall, the result for 2002 is expected to be slightly above that of 2001, but still well below the record set in 2000. One reason for this development is the disappearance of TV 3 and Tele 24: viewers are returning to SF DRS, and SF 2 in particular benefited from this (see chart), but also from the broadcast of the Winter Olympics.
While Publisuisse previously operated according to the cost recovery principle and delivered the entire net profit to SRG, in the future it will receive a commission on net revenues. This will make it more flexible in business terms. The most concrete consequence: Publisuisse also wants to market third parties in the future. According to Deltenre, talks are already underway with various possible partners, including TeleNewsCombi (TNC). By fall, combined offers between TNC and certain SRG programs (such as "Schweiz aktuell") will be launched (see WW 6/02). Publisuisse is now also in charge of sponsoring SRG radio stations (see WW 10/02).

Since April 15, Radio Aktuell has been a niche radio station dedicated to the sound of the 1980s and 1990s. This relaunch was initiated by the new managing director, André Moesch, who brought in the Hamburg-based firm Coleman for the project. Coleman had previously advised the radio stations Basilisk, BE1, Pilatus, and 24. A Coleman study revealed that Aktuell had lacked a clear profile up to that point. Along with the change in musical direction, Radio Aktuell is also getting a new logo. A name change to Radio Ostschweiz was discussed but ultimately rejected. The logo and relaunch are now being widely publicized (see page 29). Freddy Burger and Copromotion are founding Event Schweiz. The entertainment group Freddy Burger Management, based in Zurich, and the Basel-based event agency Copromotion are merging their corporate event divisions to form a new company, Event Schweiz AG. It will be headquartered at Copromotion’s offices and will open an additional office in Zurich. As a general contractor for business events, the company aims to become a major national player.
Edipresse Cuts Profits in Half—Despite Higher Revenue. The Western Swiss publishing group Edipresse closed the 2001 fiscal year with a significant decline in earnings and profits. Revenue increased by 0.5% to 714.6 million francs. According to Edipresse, this was due to strong performance in Poland (up 22%), while business in Switzerland remained stable (+0.3%) and declined by 5% in Spain. In contrast, operating profit before interest, taxes, and depreciation (EBITDA) fell by 25% to 67.98 million Swiss francs. Net income dropped by nearly half, from 59.8 million to 30 million Swiss francs.
Megalomania. It’s not just when it comes to cars that size is often—but mistakenly—equated with power and the principle of natural selection. Women’s magazines aren’t the only ones reveling in this monumental misconception of the stronger sex. The FCB Leutenegger Krüll agency also pokes fun at this antiquated way of thinking in an irritatingly funny TV commercial. To raise awareness of the new Daihatsu slogan, two boys get into a heated argument in the short spot over whose father actually owns the smaller car. Of course, they’re referring to the car, and of course, the winner is the owner of the YRV Turbo.
Swiss People Pay the Most for Radio and TV. Switzerland has the most expensive public radio and television programming in Europe. At 156.5 euros (230 francs) per capita, Swiss people have to dig deepest into their pockets for radio and TV. This is according to a report by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. The calculation took into account not only fees and subsidies for the broadcasters but also their other sources of revenue (advertising, sponsorship, or program sales). Iceland (178 francs), Austria (172 francs), Denmark (169 francs), and the United Kingdom (153 francs) follow at a considerable distance. In Germany, radio and television cost 143 francs per capita. The French (82 francs), Italians (72 francs), and Spaniards (50 francs) pay significantly less to watch TV.
God bless Argovia. To promote the «America» exhibition at the Shoppi & Tivoli shopping mall, the Zurich-based agency Wyler Werbung went so far as to create the 51st state of the U.S. To go along with this, Creative Director Ruedi Wyler and Art Director Andreas Konrad developed a striking flag—a hybrid of the Stars and Stripes and the Aargau cantonal coat of arms—and hoisted it with typical American pathos on billboard sites throughout Rüebliland. “We were looking for a simple solution that didn’t refer to a specific exhibit,” explains Wyler. After his successful run, the shopping center advertising expert is now offering his accumulated experience to the competition in Spreitenbach. According to the agency, a political parody is on the agenda for the upcoming clearance sale campaign. We’ll have to wait and see.
Hersant Launches Free Newspaper for Geneva. The French publishing group Hersant, which recently acquired the two regional newspapers L’Impartial and L’Express, has announced the launch of a free weekly newspaper for the Geneva region. The paper will not feature editorial content and is to be financed through ads and advertising.
Exxtra Wins at the Comprix with Perskindol. Swiss success at the German Comprix Award for innovative pharmaceutical communication: The advertising agency Exxtra, Zurich, won gold in the OTC category with the TV commercial «Fallschirm» for the pain relief ointment Perskindol. The subsidiary of Advico Young & Rubicam had previously received a bronze award from ADC Switzerland for the commercial. A total of 18 entries were honored at the 10th Comprix Awards. With 293 submissions from across the German-speaking world, interest declined significantly compared to the previous year (356). The Comprix is sponsored by clients, agencies, and the medical trade press.
Editorial

Consumption knows no afterlife
A guilty conscience is as much a part of consumption as “Amen” is at the conclusion of a liturgical service. Ever since the ancient teachings on renunciation, early Christian withdrawal from the world, and Calvin’s doctrine of predestination, the pleasure of consuming things has never recovered from its bad reputation. Yet, from a historical perspective, the long tradition of the morality of renunciation has only rarely corresponded to a practice of asceticism. Worldly temptations have so far still almost
befalls all those who have committed themselves to abstinence. It is precisely the
The ’68 rebels (sex, drugs, rock ’n’ roll) impressively demonstrated how effortlessly they were able to blend their opposition to so-called “consumerism” with generation-specific alternatives for enjoyment. It’s only logical that even in today’s consumer society, nothing is consumed as eagerly as criticism of consumerism.
«I shop, therefore I am»: This slogan, printed on a shopping bag by New York artist Barbara Kruger, sums up our everyday philosophy. Once you realize that there is no afterlife in consumer society, you’ll try to change it through the very means of consumption—true to the motto «Fight fire with fire.» One person who has made this insight his mission is the Canadian Kalle Lasn. As the “enfant terrible” of advertising, he takes on media society using its own methods. His ads and commercials entertain and seduce just like those of his opponents; they put an end to the joyless protest aesthetic and the moralizing anti-advertising of local origin. Read more on pages 5, 14, and 15. Samuel Helbling, Editor-in-Chief

Geri Aebi returned to Switzerland after fifteen years and took over as head of Wirz WerbungHead of the week "In the belly, the choice was made quickly".
At first, I just laughed and spontaneously declined," recalls Geri Aebi when first asked if he would like to join Wirz Werbung as CEO. At that time, he was sitting in Vienna and managing the business of Lowe GGK. In the meantime, however, he has changed his mind.
After 15 years, Aebi left Danube City, where he set out to find his advertising fortune. After completing his business studies and working for four years as a copywriter at his brother Jean Etienne's agency, Aebi & Partner, he decided in 1987 that the time was ripe for a stay abroad. However, he left Switzerland with the idea of turning his back on it for only one or two years. Geri Aebi signed on with Demner & Merlicek. Two years and a world trip later, he switched to GGK Vienna. "Then it kind of went silly, and I got stuck there," says the 43-year-old, understating his rise to CD and finally to managing director of the agency.
A rivalry between courting brothers was not a reason for him to leave Switzerland, but is also not an obstacle to return: "From my point of view, there was never any competition. We get along very well. And Jean Etienne is 14 years older than me, so that's almost a different generation." The younger brother doesn't see any reason for a profiling neurosis, and the older one probably doesn't have to fear having to leave the country for the sake of peace.
Aebi sees the timing for a return to his hometown as ideal: "My two sons are 6 and 9 years old, so now we can still transplant them relatively easily. That was one of the writing on the wall for me." He saw another in Wirz Werbung's move to a brand new building, marking the beginning of a new era for the agency. For Aebi, it was "now or never," and after discussions with Jost Wirz and Hans-Ueli Schweizer, the advertiser opted for the "now.
The move out of Austria didn't come easy for him: "In the stomach, the choice was made quickly, but the skull took a while to catch up." The appeal of pinching himself again and starting over instead of staying comfortably seated prevailed.
He first has to get used to the close-knit, manageable Zurich again. But he also has critical words for the neighboring country: "In Austria, agencies make less of an effort to achieve creative excellence, people are more easily satisfied, and that's dangerous. The tougher competition in Switzerland appeals to him, and his goal is to further distinguish Wirz as a creative brand in this environment.
He's also not unhappy about the solidarity among Helvetic agencies: "It's nothing but reasonable if they don't want to hurt each other all the time. We're all in the same boat called advertising, and the sea is rough enough at the moment."
Bruno Amstutz

The French-speaking Swiss media group Agefi achieved a net profit of just CHF 4,469 in 2001 (previous year: CHF 88,000,000).news Futur(e)s depresses Agefi profit The decline is explained by the closure costs for the new economy magazine Futur(e)s amounting to CHF 2.87 million, which Agefi has written off in full. In total, the project cost Agefi 7.2 million francs. Turnover remained stable at CHF 20.93 million (previous year: CHF 21.91 million). The operating result fell from CHF 5.4 million to CHF 3.02 million.
Star-interaktiv-TV The entertainment channel Star-TV has submitted a license application to the Federal Office of Communications for a national channel on which Star-TV intends to broadcast interactive entertainment offerings. In a first phase, games will be offered in which viewers can participate via the Internet or cell phone.
Yearbook Boom Boom, the monthly magazine for entrepreneurs and company founders, is being converted into a yearbook. The publisher Jobindex Media has decided to do this in view of the poor business situation. Subscribers to the monthly magazine will receive the business newspaper Cash delivered to their homes as a replacement until the end of the year.

SRG research service also confirms growth in reach for private radio stationsBy Daniel Schifferle Private regional television continues to gain ground in Switzerland. This is shown by the latest viewer figures presented by the SRG research service last Friday. After the failure of Tele 24 and TV 3, this is good news for a change.
The TeleNewsCombi (TNC) channels - Tele Züri, Tele Bärn, Tele Basel, Tele M1, Tele Tell, Tele Top, Tele Ostschweiz and Tele Südostschweiz - achieved an average daily reach of 21.6% last year or were watched by around 1.1 million viewers. Compared to the previous year, this represents an increase of 130000 people or more than 13%. A nice increase. The average viewing time was 14.5 minutes per day.
The growing interest in local television stations is also reflected in an increased market share. Overall, the eight TNC stations improved by 0.3 percentage points to 2.3 percentage points.
Tele Züri has maintained its reach after the Tele 24 broadcasting deadline
However, the strength and development of the individual stations varies greatly from region to region. Tele Züri's market share for the whole of 2001 fell to 4.7% (2000: 5.1%), meaning that the station reached around 31% of the Zurich population. More interesting, however, are the figures following the closure of Tele 24 and the departure of Roger Schawinski. Contrary to widespread fears, viewer numbers did not fall in the first few months after the closure.
The situation is also encouraging for Tele Tell, which has been able to steadily increase its audience from year to year. In 2001, the Central Swiss station increased its audience by a further 4,000, reaching 84,000 people or 16% of the population over the age of three in the concession area. Tele Basel achieved exactly the same figure, but was ahead in terms of reach with 18%. In contrast, Tele M1 saw a slight decline in viewer numbers, falling back to 18% reach (2000: 19%). However, Tele M1 was able to maintain its market share, which is made up of viewer numbers and average viewing time, at 1%. This means that although slightly fewer people tuned in to the station, they stayed tuned for longer.
Less use of local channels in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino
Tele Top also recorded increases, expanding its reach by 12,000 viewers to 63,000. Its competitor Tele Ostschweiz was also able to increase its audience by 6,000 viewers, but with 53,000 daily viewers it remains well behind Top.
The local TV stations in French-speaking Switzerland achieved far lower audience figures. Léman bleu achieved a daily reach of 5.7% or 26,000 viewers, which represents a decrease of 2,000 viewers compared to the previous year. TV Région Lausanne (TVRL) stagnated at a reach of 7.2% or 21,000 daily viewers. At 5.5 minutes, the average viewing time per day in French-speaking Switzerland also lagged behind the comparable figures for German-speaking Switzerland.
Tele Ticino, the still young local television station in Ticino, is doing much better. It was able to increase its reach by 9,000 to 57,000 viewers last year. This corresponds to 18% of the population - a figure that is only a good 3% behind the average of the TNC partners. With its average viewing time of around 10 minutes, Tele Ticino also leaves the French-speaking Swiss far behind, but still has potential to catch up with the TNC stations (14.5 minutes).
Gaining ground thanks to new measuring method

Thanks to the new Radiocontrol measurement method, the gap between private radio stations and SRG-operated radio stations narrowed last year. Private radio stations in German-speaking Switzerland have a net reach of 57.6%, while all DRS stations together have a net reach of 62.8%. Compared to the previous SRG media study, whose figures are not comparable with Radiocontrol, the distance has been reduced by around half, emphasizes Martin Muerner, Vice President of the Association of Swiss Private Radio Stations.
The ranking of private radio stations also does not allow comparisons with the previous year. For this reason, only the current year 2001 is shown in the chart this time as an exception.