Competitors hand in hand

Cinema The Lausanne agency Mediapresse is flexible: until the end of 2003 it was still working the Swiss cinema market for the French Mediavision, since January it has been marketing cinemas and Sat 1 Switzerland in French-speaking Switzerland for its former competitor Cinecom - and although the latter is now switching to its even larger rival PubliGroupe, Mediapresse is continuing its cooperation. This is confirmed by both Mediapresse Director Olivier Bloch and Cinecom Managing Director Matthias Luchsinger. This is not a matter of course, as Mediapresse has represented press groups such as L'Agefi, Hachette, Burda, Promoeditions and Hersant for years - and is therefore pulling a different rope in the print sector than PubliGroupe. In addition, Bloch is co-publisher of the free cinema magazines Film demnächst and Avant première, while Cinecom markets Teleclub's Close-up. Neither Bloch nor Luchsinger see a problem in this concentrated competitive situation. "Cinecom continues to make its operational decisions with a high degree of independence," says Luchsinger. And Bloch adds: "For us, PubliGroupe is a customer like any other.
(mk)