AZ Medien acquires Swiss TV station S1

With the acquisition of the private station S1 as of January 1, 2018, AZ Medien is investing in the expansion of its TV business and extending its station portfolio. The private Swiss TV station S1 shows international documentaries, feature films and series. With Swiss feature films and Swiss documentaries, as well as "Swissview" and magazines, the station is setting additional accents.

S1 was founded in 2013 by Mike Gut and Hardy Lussi and is based in Zurich. The program is primarily aimed at viewers in the 35+ age target group throughout German-speaking Switzerland. Gut and Lussi will remain active in their roles as program director and marketing director. The parties have agreed not to disclose financial details.

The new station complements AZ Medien's TV and radio portfolio, consisting of the regional stations TeleZüri, Tele M1, TeleBärn, TV24 and TV25, as well as the radio stations Argovia, Radio 24 and Virgin Radio Switzerland. The move reaffirms AZ Medien's commitment to the TV and radio business, the company said in a statement.

"AZ Medien won us over primarily thanks to its consistent commitment to the Swiss private TV market," said Mike Gut, S1's programming director.
Sales Director Hardy Lussi adds: "We are very pleased to be able to significantly increase our clout and serve our customers even better in association with AZ Medien."

"The acquisition of S1 is another important step in our strategy of investing in TV and making our portfolio even more interesting for our advertising customers as well. S1 complements our existing group of channels perfectly. I am looking forward to the joint and forward-looking cooperation with the entire S1 team" explains Roger Elsener, Managing Director AZ Medien TV und Radio, in the release. (pd/hae)