Happy collateral damage
With TV-3 off the air, B&B Endemol, Lava-TV, and Xproductions are left without any contracts
The end of TV 3 leaves B&B Endemol, Lava-TV and Xproductions without ordersBy Daniel Schifferle With the imminent end of TV 3, various production companies are also stumbling: Lava-TV, B&B Endemol and Xproductions are facing empty order books. The search for replacements is in full swing, but the prospects are bleak.
The launch of TV 3 in the fall of 1999 helped three private production companies come to life: B&B Endemol from Freddy Burger and Hannes Bichsel, Xproductions from Hans Räz and Urs P. Gasche and Lava-TV from Mike Helmy and Basil Gelpke. They all seemed to have orders for sure. But with the closure of TV 3, the lights are now threatening to go out in their studios too.
The production company B&B Endemol is probably the most affected. It produced "up to six hours of program per day for TV 3", Bichsel calculates. It was only in 2000 that Endemol acquired a 50 percent stake in Freddy Burger and Hannes Bichsel. The purpose: to produce Endemol formats for the Swiss private TV scene. But with the demise of TV 3, this demand collapsed completely. The first consequences were drawn with the dismissal of eight of a total of fifteen permanent employees. According to Bichsel, "numerous freelancers" are also affected and will lose their contracts.
"Endemol formats are primarily programs for commercial television. If TV 3, the only major private provider, disappears, we will have a problem," says Bichsel. "We will have to realign ourselves," he continues. Where it could go: We used to produce a lot for abroad and we also work for the SRG.
Production companies are looking into setting up their own channel
But it takes a lot to compensate for the loss of such a large client. B&B Endemol was present on the Tamedia channel practically every day with various programs. In addition to "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", "Big Brother" and "The Bar", the four daily hours of "Game TV" also come from the B&B Endemol kitchen.
The situation is also dramatic for the TV unit of the Zurich-based company Xproductions. At the moment, the last three episodes of "Fohrler" are still being filmed, after which the future is completely open. "There is no new TV production contract in sight," says Helena Johannson, Head of TV at Xproductions. Attempts to bring in new orders have so far been unsuccessful. "The air for private production companies in Switzerland was already thin before; with the end of TV 3, the situation is now completely dead", she sums up the situation. It is therefore very possible that Xproductions will soon only be responsible for one product, namely the advice magazine "K Geld".
Things look similarly bleak for the production company Lava-TV. It has just finished filming the third season of the hit series "Robinson" - and thus also the last commission for TV 3. Lava-TV was also fully committed to the Tamedia channel with various other productions such as "Klassenfest", "Hot Flirt" or, in earlier times, "Alarm" and "Abenteuer Schweiz".
Nevertheless, in such hopeless times for private TV producers, fantasies are sprouting as to how things could somehow continue. Even the operation of their own channel is not being ruled out.
Lava-TV, for example, is thinking aloud about a possible continuation of TV3. As a recipe for avoiding the cost trap, they are considering the multiple use of the same content in different media (you can find detailed arguments on this from Mike Helmy and Basil Gelpke at www.werbewoche.ch).
And even Xproductions is not completely dismissing the possibility of launching a channel itself. "We could also think about that," Johannson told WerbeWoche.
The launch of TV 3 in the fall of 1999 helped three private production companies come to life: B&B Endemol from Freddy Burger and Hannes Bichsel, Xproductions from Hans Räz and Urs P. Gasche and Lava-TV from Mike Helmy and Basil Gelpke. They all seemed to have orders for sure. But with the closure of TV 3, the lights are now threatening to go out in their studios too.
The production company B&B Endemol is probably the most affected. It produced "up to six hours of program per day for TV 3", Bichsel calculates. It was only in 2000 that Endemol acquired a 50 percent stake in Freddy Burger and Hannes Bichsel. The purpose: to produce Endemol formats for the Swiss private TV scene. But with the demise of TV 3, this demand collapsed completely. The first consequences were drawn with the dismissal of eight of a total of fifteen permanent employees. According to Bichsel, "numerous freelancers" are also affected and will lose their contracts.
"Endemol formats are primarily programs for commercial television. If TV 3, the only major private provider, disappears, we will have a problem," says Bichsel. "We will have to realign ourselves," he continues. Where it could go: We used to produce a lot for abroad and we also work for the SRG.
Production companies are looking into setting up their own channel
But it takes a lot to compensate for the loss of such a large client. B&B Endemol was present on the Tamedia channel practically every day with various programs. In addition to "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", "Big Brother" and "The Bar", the four daily hours of "Game TV" also come from the B&B Endemol kitchen.
The situation is also dramatic for the TV unit of the Zurich-based company Xproductions. At the moment, the last three episodes of "Fohrler" are still being filmed, after which the future is completely open. "There is no new TV production contract in sight," says Helena Johannson, Head of TV at Xproductions. Attempts to bring in new orders have so far been unsuccessful. "The air for private production companies in Switzerland was already thin before; with the end of TV 3, the situation is now completely dead", she sums up the situation. It is therefore very possible that Xproductions will soon only be responsible for one product, namely the advice magazine "K Geld".
Things look similarly bleak for the production company Lava-TV. It has just finished filming the third season of the hit series "Robinson" - and thus also the last commission for TV 3. Lava-TV was also fully committed to the Tamedia channel with various other productions such as "Klassenfest", "Hot Flirt" or, in earlier times, "Alarm" and "Abenteuer Schweiz".
Nevertheless, in such hopeless times for private TV producers, fantasies are sprouting as to how things could somehow continue. Even the operation of their own channel is not being ruled out.
Lava-TV, for example, is thinking aloud about a possible continuation of TV3. As a recipe for avoiding the cost trap, they are considering the multiple use of the same content in different media (you can find detailed arguments on this from Mike Helmy and Basil Gelpke at www.werbewoche.ch).
And even Xproductions is not completely dismissing the possibility of launching a channel itself. "We could also think about that," Johannson told WerbeWoche.
