The maker

Claudia Lässer bungee jumping. Climbing. Wakeboarding. As a reporter. As a moderator. As an interviewer. That's how you know the blonde from eastern Switzerland from television. Moderating with a sonorous voice and a smile on her face. What remains hidden on the screen: Lässer is not only in front of the camera, but is also active as a producer, program director and entrepreneur. She has even started her own fashion label.

She shows up for the meeting in a Zurich bar wearing pink pants. No coincidence. Lässer likes to wrap herself in colored fabric. She is particularly fond of reds - colors that give her energy, as she says. The experimental and determined TV woman needs energy on a treadmill, so to speak. One project follows the next. One show after another, engagements as a presenter, events, appearances as an advertising ambassador. And in her private life, the sports fanatic trains four to five times a week. Her favorite activities include jogging, swimming, kick boxing and dancing. Standing still is not an option.

"I have the doer gene in me," the 35-year-old says of herself. Even as a child, she organized circus performances, rehearsed dance programs and performed in front of audiences. However, her dream as a child and later as a teenager was not to be in front of the camera, but to teach. So, after completing her teacher training, she began working as a secondary school teacher. A difficult task. At just 21 years old, she stood in front of students who were only a few years younger than herself. She felt she was not yet ready for the job. "I was still green behind the ears." Her sideline as a model and her final appearance in the Miss Switzerland pageant opened the door for the six-foot-one tall girl to audition for Star TV. Managing director Paul Grau approached Lässer about her educational background and suggested she expand the children's and youth program as an editor. For the teacher, this was a chance to enter the television business via a topic that was close to her heart. A "kindred entry," so to speak. So Lässer left the classroom and soon became the figurehead of the national private broadcaster.

Claudia's Sofa" was the presenter's first talk show. The TV newcomer enjoyed questioning studio guests. Because just as much as Lässer likes to be the center of attention, she likes to engage with others, listen and ask questions. She wants to know what people are interested in, what they do and what moves them. That's why the curious journalist always comes out in conversation with her. Lässer asks counter-questions: "What's it like for you?" or ends a story with: "Don't you know what it's like?"

One way of playing - with sports

Today, Lässer looks back with gratitude on her time at Star TV. At the lifestyle station, she learned the television trade from the ground up. She filmed herself, sat at the editing suite and had to set the lights herself. The TV woman was able to try out what works and what doesn't on television. It was allowed to be a bit cheeky and "freaky". As a fitness fan, she was also able to bring in her sporty lifestyle.

Growing up with a sports-mad father who gave aerobics lessons and a brother who was a professional beach baller, Lässer had danced and practiced figure skating from an early age. Star TV was the link to fun sports. As host of the magazine "Freestyle," she tried out various sports together with Marco Schwab. "That was very cool. Broadcast-wise, something of the most casual thing I've ever done," the sports enthusiast still raves today. "We were allowed to do everything. There were no guidelines. " Snowboarding, skating, wakeboarding, surfing, base jumping, climbing. Sports, one or the other of which required Lässer to overcome and push herself to her limits. Her time at "Freestyle" helped her "become brave in life." You have to "move out of your comfort zone" every now and then, she says. For her, challenging herself again and again and going one step further is simply part of life.

She did this repeatedly in the course of her career. For example, when she broke with Star TV and founded the production company Trendscout together with her former partner Mathias Walther, then head of sports at Grashoppers. That was the start as an independent entrepreneur. With her company, Lässer launched various TV formats in the years that followed. With Mike Gut, she launched the Prosieben window "Faces TV," produced the soccer magazine "Kickoff" for Sat 1 Switzerland and Austria for the European Championship in 2008, and also oversaw a special section for the Austrian private TV station Puls 4. The entrepreneur also flirted with the big TV market in Germany. Then as now, however, there was no question of her giving up her "home base. She is too much of a "Switzerland fan" for that: "I always almost freak out when I travel around Switzerland. When I'm in Arosa in the mountains. It's awesome, isn't it?" Besides, he says, it's a good constellation in this country to start your own business: "I maintain: the Swiss is often not brave enough. But extremely much is possible."

In front of and behind the camera

With her own company, Lässer not only sharpened her profile as a producer, but also grew into the role of a businesswoman. She had to do her own budgeting, market formats and enter into partnerships. Experiences that later stood her in good stead. First and foremost, when she moved to SSF as head of programming in 2008 and built up the station together with technical director Simon Schmidlin. From the search for suitable studios, which they found in TV 3's old premises, to playouts, cable networks and the hiring of new staff - everything had to be done in a very short time. After the decision by the Federal Office of Communications Bakom at the end of February 2009 that the station was allowed to go on air, there were only four months until the launch. "A sporting feat," says Lässer. A feat that was to intensify when her colleague Schmidlin was killed in an accident. For her, a human tragedy. "We were like a family. And I was the station's mommy." Nevertheless, she had to get the sports station, which was supposed to provide a platform for fringe and grassroots sports, up and running together with her staff. Lässer put her energy into building up the channel, taking care of rights and cooperations with sports associations, as well as launching new formats. Thanks to a cooperation agreement and good collaboration with SF, they managed to show Swiss soccer cup matches, volleyball championships and handball matches. In return, the sports broadcaster provided montages for the SF magazine shows. In addition, Lässer stepped in as a presenter herself for some formats. On the one hand, for the soccer talk show "Kick it!", in which she interviewed two soccer experts together with former Nati goalie Jörg Stiel. On the other hand, she did the sports talk show "Close up," in which she interviewed athletes and sports-loving celebrities, trying to find out what moves her studio guests and what drives them. Her talk was about not focusing on the athletes and their performance, but showing the people behind it. "I didn't want a short fodder topic." Meanwhile, she prepared systematically for her television appearances. Like a top athlete training for a competition, Lässer, a sports enthusiast, works with mental training: she visualizes in advance how everything will go down so that, as soon as the camera starts rolling, she can concentrate 100 percent on her TV presence. "Especially with life shots: In your ear the director, the producer, the production manager, guests, then something unexpected happens.... That's when you have to be focused."

Dedicated to the sport

When Lässer talks about her time at SSF, it's still "we". Saying goodbye seems to be difficult for her. Nevertheless, she once again wants to take a step further. For .the realizer, it was time to "get out of her feel-good oasis." Lässer emphasizes that her departure has nothing to do with the delayed business development of the station, which is still not in the black after three years and is struggling with low market shares. SSF is too much "a project of the heart" for that. And she was aware from the start that she could not rely on ratings for a special interest station. As a special interest station with a much smaller target group, SSF should not be compared to a broadcaster. "You should measure what percentage of the sports community SSF reaches. Someone who doesn't watch sports doesn't suddenly start. No matter how good the programming is." Lässer remains loyal to sports no matter what. After four years in the business, her heart beats strongly for it. With Teleclub, she has also found a pay TV provider with a huge sports offering. As head of sports programming, she wants to expand the program around the broadcasts. Her new job also requires her to rethink: from a single channel to more than 30 channels programmed in parallel, with the Super League on one, the Bundesliga on the second, tennis on the third and an entertainment film on the fourth. A package of offerings that the manager wants to dovetail even better. The program "Faces TV," which Lässer produces with her own company, is also on the way. A pilot has just been shot, and the fashion magazine will soon be on air again - with a different concept. So it's not time to sit back and relax. And that wouldn't suit Lässer at all. The creator thrives on creating something new. "If it gets too comfortable, you get lazy. I don't like that."

Isabel Imper

In a nutshell

Claudia Lässer (*1976) graduated from high school, then from teacher training in Kreuzlingen, and then worked as a teacher and as a model. In 2000, she joined Star TV, where she built up the children's and youth program. In the spring of 2002, she took over the editing and moderation of the program "Fashion" and moved to the evening program. In 2002, Star TV entrusted her with department management and program purchasing for the entire lifestyle program. From 2008, Lässer was program director of Swiss sports television SSF, responsible for the entire program content, rights acquisition and the launch of new TV formats. In 2011, she was entrusted with the overall management of the channel. This summer, the sports and media manager moved to pay-TV provider Teleclub, where she will be responsible for sports programming as Head of Sports Programming and deputy to Head of Sports Roger Feiner. Since 2007, Lässer has also been producing various TV formats ("Faces TV," "Kickoff," "Face of Faces") with her own company for Pro Sieben Schweiz, Sat 1 Schweiz and Sat 1 Österreich.