The Merger of the internet platforms Local.ch and Search.ch could lead to the subsidiary jointly owned by Swisscom and Tamedia assuming a dominant position in address directories in future. This is the conclusion reached by the Competition Commission. The Federal Competition Commission (ComCo) will therefore examine the merger of the two directory services in greater depth, as the authority announced on Tuesday. According to the Competition Commission, the examination of how the planned merger is likely to affect competition in address directories will be carried out within four months.

Following the takeover of Publigroupe by Swisscom, the telecommunications group and the media company Tamedia would like to merge their address directory businesses. To this end, they are planning to merge Local.ch and Search.ch into a joint subsidiary. Swisscom will hold 69 percent of the share capital and Tamedia 31 percent. They justify the merger of the two directory services with the need to make their businesses more competitive in the area of address and contact data searches in order to be able to compete with Google. Swisscom definitively took over Publigroupe in September. The "blue giant" put 475 million Swiss francs on the table for this (Werbewoche.ch reported). (SDA)

The journalist's appeal was dismissed and a 2013 ruling by the Wil District Court was upheld, the cantonal court announced Tuesday. The new verdict is not yet legally binding.

In May 2011, Blick reported on the arrest of two cab drivers in St. Gallen who were accused of rape. The report was illustrated with photos of the suspects. However, one of the two men pictured was innocent. During his research, the journalist had contact with a private detective. The latter obtained the pictures of the two crime suspects from a police officer. He allegedly told the police officer that he wanted to show the pictures to another possible rape victim.

Innocent in the pillory

By publishing the photos, the tabloid publicly denounced the rapist, but also his innocent brother. The latter defended himself against the publication and demanded damages and satisfaction. This led to a criminal investigation. In 2013, the District Court of Wil convicted the journalist, the private investigator and the police officer of violating official secrets or inciting them to do so. It imposed conditional fines of240 daily fines (detective), 60 daily fines (journalist) and 45 daily fines (police officer). The detective and the policeman accepted the sentences. Both are no longer active in their former professions. The journalist, however, challenged the verdict, so that the St. Gallen Cantonal Court had to deal with the case on Monday.

Acquittal demanded

The Blick employee only partially answered the court's questions. His defense attorney demanded an acquittal. The journalist had neither wanted nor known that the private detective had incited a police officer to violate official secrets. He had merely asked the detective if he knew anything about the case. The prosecutor saw it differently: the journalist had known that the detective - himself a former police officer - had good contacts with the police. The detective had also provided the newspaper with information from police sources in another case. The court followed the prosecutor's request and dismissed the appeal. It ordered the journalist to pay 4500 francs in procedural costs.

Damages and satisfaction

The appeal of the man who was wrongly denounced with a picture in Blick was also rejected. He demanded 10,000 francs in damages and 20,000 francs in satisfaction from the journalist. His lawyer spoke of an "extremely blatant" violation of personality. Now the man must assert his claim in civil court. (SDA)

Image: Keystone

The discontinuation of printing operations at the Schlieren site, which is subject to consultation with employee representatives, puts 125 of the 184 jobs at risk. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung and the NZZ am Sonntag are to be printed at Tamedia's Zurich printing center in the future. The NZZ and Tamedia have negotiated a long-term binding contract to this effect. Third-party orders are to be produced essentially at the NZZ Media Group's Winkeln SG printing center - subject to the customers' consent.

Image: Keystone

The Swiss market for newspaper printing has considerable overcapacity, the statement continued. Falling print runs for in-house products have meant that newspaper printers are increasingly dependent on orders from third-party customers. However, the prices for these orders have come under strong pressure due to the overcapacity. This development has also affected the Schlieren printing center, whose capacity was planned in the 1990s at the height of the newspaper boom. Now, replacement investments in the double-digit millions are pending, which cannot be justified economically against the background of declining circulations and the erosion of margins for third-party orders.

Image: Keystone

"Our growth potential lies primarily in the digital market," Veit Dengler, CEO of the NZZ Media Group, commented on the closure in a statement. Since 2008, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung's print circulation has fallen by 36,000 copies. Of that, about 18,000 could be rebuilt as digital circulation. "In order to secure our future, we are consistently investing in the broadening of our product range in the online and mobile sectors. We very much regret that this leads to job cuts in the print area. We have great understanding for the situation of the employees affected and will work closely with the employee representatives to mitigate the consequences of this decision," emphasizes Dengler.

The employee representatives of the NZZ Media Group now have until mid-January to comment on the management's intended measures and to draw up proposals on how layoffs can be avoided.

Thomy Scherrer, 54, one of Switzerland's best-known radio voices, is to become the new presenter of "Club". He has been working for Radio SRF 1 since 1992, the last 18 years as a presenter. Thomy Scherrer has anchored the morning show on Radio SRF 1 for seven years. He is currently also presenting the car magazine "Tacho" on SRF Zweit until he joins the "Club". From February 2015, Thomy Scherrer will alternate with Karin Frei in hosting the discussion program. He will continue to be heard on Radio SRF 1 in the mornings on a reduced workload.

As previously communicatedMona Vetsch is changing the editorial team within Swiss radio and television. She will join the "Dok" team at the end of the year and will take over the moderation of the "Dok" series "Fortsetzung folgt" in 2015. Mona Vetsch will welcome guests to the "Club" for the last time on Tuesday, November 25, 2014, at 10.25 pm on SRF 1.

Thomy Scherrer: "The "Club" has shaped me in the media, now I can shape it. What's particularly appealing about the "Club" is that I can combine all the pieces of my radio experience in one program: the short formats with the news-driven topics from the morning show and the longer conversations from the "Treffpunkt" or the "Forum" discussion format."

Karin Frei, Editorial Director of "Club": "Thomy Scherrer is the ideal choice for "Club". Anyone who knows him from the radio knows that he not only impresses with his journalistic skills, but also with his freshness and closeness to people. Welcome to the Club!"

Germans spend more than three hours a day in front of the television. But how do they actually perceive the people they encounter in news programs, shows or political talk shows? And what would their favorite presenter be like? Scientists have now discovered that presenters are perceived as relatively competent, likeable and credible regardless of the broadcast format - and that these should also be the most important characteristics of an ideal presenter.

Together with her team, Isabell Welpe, holder of the TUM Chair of Strategy and Organization, surveyed over 1000 people between the ages of 18 and 60. The scientists wanted to find out what ideal image viewers would like to see in presenters and what skills and characteristics they should have. The results showed that the ideal presenter should be competent, assertive, likeable and credible, regardless of the broadcast format - but above all male. This was particularly true for presenters of sports programs, who should also be emotional and humorous. These two qualities were also on the "wish list" for presenters of entertainment shows, while they played a lesser role for political talk shows and news programs. When asked what qualities a "dream presenter" should have, the participants in the study mentioned passion, sophistication and peacefulness in addition to general qualities such as competence.

However, although more respondents considered the ideal presenter to be male, gender did not usually play a role in the rating of a program. In the eyes of the study participants, the quality of a program was not influenced by whether female or male presenters led through sports, politics or news programs. Entertainment shows were an exception here - the study participants rated programs with male presenters more positively.

Young, competent, humorous - how do moderators work?

The researchers also wanted to know how viewers perceive well-known presenters. The participants were therefore shown pictures of four presenters from four different formats. These were news presenters, presenters of political discussion panels, show hosts and sports presenters. The study participants were then asked to assign different characteristics such as competence, humor, credibility or attractiveness to the individuals. The researchers found that male presenters were rated as significantly more competent, likeable, credible and humorous than female presenters - and therefore came very close to the ideal image. Female presenters appeared more attractive and younger than their male colleagues. "We were able to show that the generally perceived gender differences were particularly pronounced in entertainment shows," adds Isabell Welpe.

"Our study shows that gender-specific stereotypes unfortunately still play a very large role in the German media landscape. It is therefore also the task of the media to continue to break down these role stereotypes - including in the choice of types of programming and topics," Welpe summarizes. The study was co-sponsored by the television channel Sky.

Teaser image: Keystone

No Grand Prix goes to Switzerland. Nevertheless, the local agencies can look back on a successful competition: eleven awards were won by Leo Burnett, Ruf Lanz, FCB Zurich, Saatchi & Saatchi, Advico Y&R and Havas Worldwide Zurich (you can find the overview here). here). With two gold Epicas and one bronze award, Leo Burnett Switzerland is not only the most successful Epica 2014 agency in Switzerland, but is also part of the competition's most award-winning network: Leo Burnett won 92 awards, 26 of which were gold. The most successful agency this year is Adam & Eve DDB: 30 awards - 15 of them gold - went to London.

The Epica Awards want to give more weight to digital forms of advertising in future. As a transitional solution, two Grand Prix Digital were awarded in 2014 - as a result, there were not four Grand Prix winners as announced, but five. (hae)

Despite the long distance, numerous winners accepted the spontaneous invitation.

The award ceremony took place in a converted church next to the Renaissance Hotel. The advertisers renamed the location the "Temple of Creation".

Photos: Andreas Panzeri

Grand Prix Outdoor

Agency: Publicis Conseil Paris
Customer: Paris Zoo

Grand Prix Digital

Agency: Leo Burnett Toronto
Client: Procter & Gamble

Larger

Grand Prix Digital

Agency: 72 and Sunny Amsterdam
Client: Google

Grand Prix Press

Agency: Leo Burnett Beirut
Client: Virgin Radio

Grand Prix Film

Agency: BBDO New York
Customer: GE

Sager will remain responsible for the Group's strategy and sustainable corporate development as Delegate of the Board of Directors, according to a statement on Monday.

Wilfried Heinzelmann has been working at management level for the Cinetrade Group since 1996. In addition to his function as General Counsel and spokesman for the company, the 51-year-old former business lawyer most recently held the position of COO. He also sat on the boards of directors of all companies belonging to the group.

In the position of COO, Wilfried Heinzelmann will be succeeded by the current Head of Programming, Ronald Fiedler, who will also join the Executive Board of CT Cinetrade. Fiedler joined Teleclub in May 2013 as Head of Programming and Product Development. He previously worked for the German pay-TV company Sky in the programming area for seven years.

In addition to CT Cinetrade, the Cintetrade Group includes Teleclub, Kitag and Plazavista. Swisscom holds 75 percent of the shares, founder Stephan Sager 25 percent.

Image: Probst-law.ch

Ricardo.ch launches a broad marketing campaign every year in the run-up to Christmas. In 2014, this is exclusively online and a pure performance campaign. Notch Interactive designs and implements all communication measures. The campaign focuses on selling new fixed-price items and increasing traffic in the individual product categories. According to a statement, Ricardo.ch wants to position itself even more strongly as an online marketplace for new products. Commercial dealers who offer their products at fixed prices have been activated especially for the campaign.

In order to do justice to the strategic orientation, the communication consists of a specific targeting and a general reach part, with the latter aiming at the broadest possible target group. For the targeting section, sub-campaigns were designed that address different segments and feature different products or messages. Notch Interactive defined and narrowed down the segments and targeting groups together with Mediacom and Ricardo.ch. Regular tracking is used to continuously adjust the weighting in order to achieve the best possible performance of the campaigns. The banners and microsites are designed according to the defined target groups and needs.

The Ricardo.ch claim "Exactly my thing" is given more weight and is used prominently in marketing measures for the first time. It is visually modified to suit the respective target group.

The annual campaign will run from November 10 to December 21, 2014, and will be promoted using external and internal online advertising media. In addition, newsletters and various social media measures will be used.

Responsible at Ricardo.ch: Yves Mäder (Managing Director Ricardo.ch), Lars Hanf (Head of Marketing), Michel Noverraz (Head of Brand & Advertising), Lilian Prachoinig (Marketing Project Manager). Responsible at Notch Interactive: Peter A. van der Touw (overall responsibility), Jeff Gerber (creative direction), Marco Klein, Martin Stauch (art direction), David Elmiger, David Voges (text), Alain Aebersold, Jack Benz, Simon Thurnheer (design), Tobias Fuhlroth (technical direction), Stefan Schäfer (head of consulting), Vera Weber (consulting). Responsible at Mediacom: Andreas J. Bartneck (Director Interaction & Media Beyond Advertising), Stephan Sliwensky (Head of Interaction Consulting), Franz Klingler (Interaction Senior Planner).

Ricardo.ch/mkt/christmas/2014/household-appliances
Ricardo.ch/mkt/christmas/2014/toys
Ricardo.ch/mkt/christmas/2014/entertainment
Ricardo.ch/mkt/christmas/2014/accessories
Ricardo.ch/mkt/christmas/2014/sport
Ricardo.ch/mkt/christmas/2014/health
Ricardo.ch/mkt/christmas/2014/general

The film stars a young boy who races through his apartment in his tuned slide car and perfectly masters all the stunts and dangerous situations, such as drifting past valuable vases, in the best racing driver manner. The film is available in full length on the microsite Zurich.at/protection to see. In addition, racing sets for children, consisting of a racing overall and a Bobby Car, will be raffled off there. In addition, the campaign will be used in cinema, print and online. The film, which is based on the well-known Gymkhana films, was developed by the FCB Zurich agency as part of the Interpublic Group for Zurich Insurance and staged with the Wirz Fraefel Paal production company.

Responsible at Zurich Insurance: Carine Andrey Marek; Sabine Weinberger. Responsible at IPG / FCB Zurich: Dennis Lück (creative direction); Flavio Meroni (art direction); Nemi Gajic (text); Elgee Wee, Isabelle Benz (graphics); Carmen Köll, Stephanie Schmutterer (consulting). Photo: Per Kasch. Responsible at Wirz Fraefel Paal: Stefan Fraefel (producer); Nina Wirth (production manager); Adrian Wisard (director); Michael Saxer (camera). Responsible at UM Media: Mathias Mayer (Client Service Director); Birgit Altrichter (Client Service).

War reporter Pelda has spent this year in crisis areas such as Syria and Iraq to find out about the situation of the population and "reported on the worst human rights violations", the company explained the decision in a statement on Monday night. Pelda is being honored for his commitment, in which he "risked his life several times" in order to "get closer to the truth".

Born in Basel in 1965, Pelda works as a freelance journalist and, according to the press release, is consulted by various media as an "experienced expert on the situation". The IGFM-CH has been awarding the Human Rights Prize since 1994. It honors people and actions that support and promote human security. (SDA)

Image: SRF

Time is running out for Christmas 2014. But the next gift opportunity is sure to come - so keep the page Budsies.com times in mind. Within eight weeks, the company transforms children's creations into real stuffed animals. Anyone who uploads a drawing via the order form and transfers $69 (plus postage) receives a unique piece of the fantasy creature made by an artist's hand. No prefabricated parts, but "creativity and love" are used by the team of artists, designers and tailors to produce the unique works. No matter how figurative or realistic the child draws, even abstract artwork comes to life, according to FAQs. Best of all, adults can also send in their designs and get their very own plush creation sent to them. Just like that, if you're ever looking for a sparkling gift idea. (hae)

Photos: Budsies.com, Instagram.com/budsies via Boredpanda.com

Mirjam Spreiter succeeds Monika Balmer, who is returning to Zurich as SRF Coordinator for Interregional Cooperation at SRG SSR. The 32-year-old has been working in various functions for "Tagesschau" since 2008. Until 2011, she was editor, co-producer and producer at Tagesschau Multimedia. She then worked as an editor and reporter for the television edition of "Tagesschau". Mirjam Spreiter studied religious studies, media and communication studies and contemporary history at the Universities of Fribourg, Bern and Berlin, graduating with a degree.