Nau editorial team produces online and for public screens

Around 45 newly recruited editors work for Nau. They want to convey what is happening on the ground, live and digitally. "Now eben," says CEO Yves Kilchenmann to the sda news agency.

Much local

A great deal of emphasis is placed on the local: almost a third of the team are reporters. They report in text and moving images from the German-speaking regions of Switzerland.

In addition to an online platform, Nau Media produces its own news for the passenger information system Passengertv, which has been in operation for several years, as well as - for gas stations - the gas pump TV Gasstationtv. The screens belong to Livesystems, Nau's parent company.

The new editorial offering is financed by advertising. A quarter of airtime is reserved for advertising, Kilchenmann says. "Well-crafted information tailored to the local audience will ensure that the screens catch the eye."

The makers of Nau are also companions: municipalities, associations or private individuals are to be able to place their own reports on the screens as "nautors". "We have the ambition that location-based production will take place," says the CEO.

"Hyperlocal" is the motto, he says: Anyone just passing through a village on the bus is interested in a new traffic circle or news from local associations. Anyone who wants background information or additional reports to accompany the few sentences on the screens can access the online platform nau.ch.

Mainly for commuters

"Ninety percent of our work is for commuters," Kilchenmann says. Passengertv's screens hang primarily in vehicles of transportation companies operating in regions and cities. Specially tailored information is created for transportation companies that are often used by tourists, according to Kilchenmann.

The screens also generate revenue for transport companies and service station operators. They receive a share of the advertising revenue and can provide their own information to the public - for example, on the timetable, traffic jams or the passability of Alpine passes.

Nationwide, the screens of passengertv and gasstationtv have around 1.5 million readers. At Passengertv, more than 1.3 million readers are WEMF-certified.

The screens from Livesystems hang in vehicles of more than 50 larger and smaller transport companies and - since the beginning of the year - at about 150 to 200 gas stations, as Kilchenmann explains. Four gas station chains offer pump TV.

Livesystems has been offering passenger television for public transport users since 2008. Until now, the information has been produced in collaboration with newspaper and online editorial teams. In German-speaking Switzerland, this collaboration will be continued, as the Nau editorial team cannot handle this task alone.

Own reports

The new media house also relies on its own reports. According to Kilchenmann, it also sources reports from the SDA news agency.

In French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino, local media houses continue to provide coverage for the screens. For the time being, Nau's editorial team is concentrating on German-speaking Switzerland. "If the new project proves successful, we could conceivably offer it in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino as well," says Kilchenmann.

The editor-in-chief of Nau Media is Micha Zbinden. In addition to Nau Media, Livesystems Holding, which is wholly Swiss-owned, also owns Livesystems Dooh, with its information screens in public transport and at gas stations, and Livesystems, which is responsible for serving advertising customers. (SDA/hae)