"With Wolfgang Elsässer, we have been able to bring a proven content and TV expert on board," says a delighted Urs Schaeppi, Swisscom CEO and Chairman of the Board of Cinetrade.
Cinetrade has developed strongly in recent years. Despite intense competition, the number of subscriptions increased in both the fiction and sports areas. The portfolio was realigned and new offerings such as Teleclub Now were launched. In the cinema business, new standards were set with innovative venues such as Gümligen near Bern.
Wilfried Heinzelmann will continue to be available to Cinetrade in an advisory capacity. "After more than 20 years in management responsibility at Cinetrade and almost five years as CEO, I have the desire to set other priorities professionally. In addition, I would also like to have more time for my family and hobbies," said the still acting CEO in a statement explaining his resignation.
After holding various management positions at Grundig, Premiere (now Sky) and SES Astra, Wolfgang Elsässer took over as Head of TV & Entertainment at Deutsche Telekom in 2016. There, he was responsible for the entire value chain, from development, operations, product management, the content areas of fiction, sports, VR and music, to communications, sales and marketing of all Magenta Entertainment products.
In this role, Wolfgang Elsässer decisively developed Deutsche Telekom's entertainment products, business models and content offering. He also opened up Deutsche Telekom's offerings to third parties such as Netflix and Amazon, as well as to OTT customers. He strengthened the offering with new partnerships, exclusive content, co-productions and in-house productions, as well as an innovative free-on-demand offering - the "Megathek.
"Swisscom TV and the Cinetrade offering are critical to our positioning in the mass market," said Urs Schaeppi. "In an increasingly competitive environment, it is important to bring relevant entertainment innovation to the customer. I am sure that with Wolfgang Elsässer we have found the right person for this task."
The seller is Cinetrade founder Stephan Sager. As a result, Swisscom will become the sole shareholder of CT Cinetrade AG and its
Group companies, Swisscom spokesman Christian Neuhaus said in response to a corresponding article in the SonntagsBlick. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
Stephan Sager would take on an advisory role in the future. Cinetrade boss Wilfried Heinzelmann will continue in his post. No changes are planned in management either, Neuhaus said. Cinetrade is a film and sports rights company that also operates the pay-TV channel Teleclub and the cinema chain Kitag.
Swisscom has held a 75 percent stake since 2013, having taken a 49 percent stake in Cinetrade in 2005. The "blue giant" thus secured film and sports rights with a view to the launch of Swisscom TV in 2006. Cinetrade owns not only Teleclub, but also Kitag, which operates 85 movie theaters with 17,000 seats in Switzerland, making it the country's largest cinema operator. (SDA/hae)
SRG has acquired a corresponding sublicense from Cinetrade for a further four seasons. The agreement, which is valid until the 2020/21 season, also regulates the post-production rights: As before, the public will be able to enjoy all matches and goals in the post-production coverage.
With the new contract, fans of the domestic soccer championship will receive continuity from SRG: The weekly live match from the Super League will continue to be a fixed part of the sports program on SRG's channels and platforms. SRG has acquired a corresponding sublicense from Cinetrade for four more seasons (2017/18 to 2020/21). SRF, RTS and RSI (TV, radio, online/apps) will be able to broadcast one match exclusively on free TV in each of the 36 Super League rounds, as before. The agreement also includes live rights to individual Challenge League matches. SRG will also produce all matches that it broadcasts live on its stations and platforms. Another component of the agreement is the comprehensive post-production rights: SRF, RTS and RSI will also be able to show all goals from all matches in post-production coverage in the coming seasons.
Roland Mägerle, Head of Business Unit Sport (BUS): "SRG's stations offer the most comprehensive live sports portfolio on free TV in the whole of Europe. It has always been our declared goal to continue to have the domestic soccer championship in our portfolio. We are delighted that we will be able to show audiences a live match every week for 36 rounds in the coming years, as well as all the games and goals in the post-match coverage."
The parties have agreed not to disclose the financial compensation and contractual details, according to the statement.
After CT Cinetrade had already won the bid to exploit the exclusive moving image rights in June 2016, the Swiss Football League and CT Cinetrade have now been able to agree on all contract details.In the 2017/18 season, coverage of the Super League and Challenge League will be significantly expanded.
"For the clubs and the league, the broadest possible coverage of league football is of central importance. This goal is undoubtedly achieved with the signed solution," said Heinrich Schifferle, President of the Swiss Football League.
Wilfried Heinzelmann, CEO CT Cinetrade, on the signing of the contract: "The extension of the successful cooperation with our long-standing partner Swiss Football League for another four years is a strong sign of trust. As a result, Teleclub is adding innovative broadcast formats to its editorial coverage from the 2017/18 season onwards, clearly positioning itself as the number one football channel in Switzerland."
Claudius Schäfer, CEO of the Swiss Football League, added: "The most important progress we have made compared to the current solution is in the marked increase in compensation and kick-off times. We are very pleased to be able to meet the wishes of our clubs and their fans in this area for the most part."
More editorial content in Swiss football
With the magazine shows "Super Preview," "All Matches, All Goals" and the soccer talk show "Super League Total," three new broadcast formats will supplement the live broadcasts from the 2017/18 season. The first-time broadcast of conferences for matches taking place in parallel and the production of a new four matches per round in Ultra HD will offer viewers additional added value. In addition, Teleclub will also broadcast the new magazine shows and live Challenge League matches on free TV.
The existing partnership with SRG SSR will be continued (Werbewoche.ch reported). As before, one Super League match per round will be shown live as well as highlights on SRG SSR channels.
Marcel Reif: Teleclub's new soccer expert and brand ambassador
Marcel Reif (pictured right with Teleclub program director Claudia Lässer) is Teleclub's new soccer expert and brand ambassador. Reif will be in the Teleclub Sport Studio from October 15, where he will discuss and debate with the presenters and their studio guests. "There are an extraordinary number of Swiss players in the Bundesliga; the Super League is a hotbed of talent. I'm looking forward to soon being able to stand on the sidelines for Teleclub as an expert and analyze Swiss soccer matches," says Reif.
The sports editorial team will also be reinforced by football commentator Dani Wyler, who has great expertise, a voice with recognition value and many years of experience in the field of sports.
Live NHL games
Teleclub can also score with new, top-class content on the ice: The coverage of international ice hockey events through broadcasts from the Champions Hockey League will be supplemented with immediate effect by live matches from the world's most spectacular ice hockey league, the National Hockey League. Teleclub will also broadcast a large proportion of the matches from the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship from 2018. This will also be on the basis of a sublicense with SRG SSR, under which the rights for the Champions Hockey League were also extended. In addition, the games of the Swiss Ice Hockey Cup will also be shown on Teleclub from the 2017/18 season, provided that the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation formally decides to continue the competition next November.
Wilfried Heinzelmann has been working at management level for the Cinetrade Group since 1996. In addition to his function as General Counsel and spokesman for the company, the 51-year-old former business lawyer most recently held the position of COO. He also sat on the boards of directors of all companies belonging to the group.
In the position of COO, Wilfried Heinzelmann will be succeeded by the current Head of Programming, Ronald Fiedler, who will also join the Executive Board of CT Cinetrade. Fiedler joined Teleclub in May 2013 as Head of Programming and Product Development. He previously worked for the German pay-TV company Sky in the programming area for seven years.
In addition to CT Cinetrade, the Cintetrade Group includes Teleclub, Kitag and Plazavista. Swisscom holds 75 percent of the shares, founder Stephan Sager 25 percent.
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The reading habits of moviegoers have also changed considerably over the years. They are increasingly gathering information online with the great advantage of also being offered moving images in the form of film trailers, Cinetrade said in a press release on Friday. The company sees this as an opportunity and will adapt to the new requirements.
]]>The same is now emerging for ice hockey. Cinetrade is to secure live exclusivity during the qualifiers in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, as the NZZ writes on Sunday. SRG could then also broadcast live matches. And the cable network operators would in turn not have access to all matches.
But now the Competition Commission is also said to be interested in the market conditions for pay-TV. This is revealed by research carried out by NZZ am Sontag. The Secretariat of the Competition Commission has informed the market participants in a letter that it has opened a preliminary investigation "in the matter of Cinetrade": "We have indications of a possible unlawful restriction of competition within the meaning of Article 7 of the Cartel Act," confirmed Carole Söhner, Deputy Director of the Competition Commission, according to NZZ am Sontag. Article 7 of the Cartel Act deals with unlawful conduct by dominant companies.
Swisscom is relaxed about the Weko initiative; after all, this is only a preliminary investigation. According to NZZ am Sontag, Swisscom spokesman Sepp Huber says that there are no accusations or suspicions as yet. And: "The competition for sports broadcasting rights is on". As a distributor of such content, Swisscom has committed itself to Cinetrade. Broadcasting rights for football or ice hockey are awarded exclusively and for a limited period of time, Huber continued according to NZZ am Sontag. This means that there is open competition in every tender round.