Fresh snow united
Mountain Radio Stations Form a Special-Interest Group
Bergradios form special interest poolBy Markus Knöpfli The radios Rottu, BeO, Central and Grischa/Piz have launched an advertising offer with a new pool that is primarily intended to benefit the tourism industry. It is therefore called Tourism Pool.
The pool can be booked immediately; officially, the advertising platform will not start until December 1, in time for the winter season in the mountain regions. The clearinghouse is at Radiotele as well as Radio Berner Oberland (BeO). BeO broadcasting manager Martin Muerner is the initiator of the new pool.
According to radio control data for the first half of 2001, the four Bergradios have a combined daily net reach of 473000 listeners. According to Muerner, this audience could be particularly interesting for the tourism industry. "We don't compete with other pools with the special interest product," says Muerner, who is also head of Pool 2000.
But he sees another target audience: the many out-of-town guests, who are at most only partially surveyed by Radiocontrol. Because many of these guests do not understand German, the four Bergradios are planning English-language broadcasts that are to be made known to vacationers by means of brochures in hotels and parahotels - following the example of Radio BeO, which has long been doing this on a daily basis. Joint competitions as well as events at sporting events are to increase the attractiveness of the pool. The price, however, has not yet been determined.
Jürg Schmid, Director of Switzerland Tourism, reacted positively. The new pool offers "a fantastic opportunity to serve guests with relevant tourist information," he said. He also promised "many ideas and cooperations".
On the other hand, Bruno Oetterli, Managing Director of Radiotele, is cautiously optimistic. "The product will have to assert itself in the market," he says. In view of the "respectable performance" of the four radios compared to the (advertising-free) DRS stations, however, the tourism pool could "certainly be interesting" for individual customers.
The pool can be booked immediately; officially, the advertising platform will not start until December 1, in time for the winter season in the mountain regions. The clearinghouse is at Radiotele as well as Radio Berner Oberland (BeO). BeO broadcasting manager Martin Muerner is the initiator of the new pool.
According to radio control data for the first half of 2001, the four Bergradios have a combined daily net reach of 473000 listeners. According to Muerner, this audience could be particularly interesting for the tourism industry. "We don't compete with other pools with the special interest product," says Muerner, who is also head of Pool 2000.
But he sees another target audience: the many out-of-town guests, who are at most only partially surveyed by Radiocontrol. Because many of these guests do not understand German, the four Bergradios are planning English-language broadcasts that are to be made known to vacationers by means of brochures in hotels and parahotels - following the example of Radio BeO, which has long been doing this on a daily basis. Joint competitions as well as events at sporting events are to increase the attractiveness of the pool. The price, however, has not yet been determined.
Jürg Schmid, Director of Switzerland Tourism, reacted positively. The new pool offers "a fantastic opportunity to serve guests with relevant tourist information," he said. He also promised "many ideas and cooperations".
On the other hand, Bruno Oetterli, Managing Director of Radiotele, is cautiously optimistic. "The product will have to assert itself in the market," he says. In view of the "respectable performance" of the four radios compared to the (advertising-free) DRS stations, however, the tourism pool could "certainly be interesting" for individual customers.
