Wine and beer now allowed on radio, TV
More ads, different spots - and a drop of wine on Swiss TV, radio
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Ofcom, the Swiss federal communications supervisor, will issue directives during the summer of 2010 for more advertising space and time on radio and television. The new regulations will bring Switzerland into line with European neighbours, who have more advertising time, in order not to create a disadvantage, in particular for Swiss public TV and radio.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – World Radio Switzerland (WRS), the English-language public radio station, has offered listeners in Lausanne an explanation for poorer reception by some listeners on its new frequency, compared to the old: 101.7FM has some interference from neighbouring stations 101.5FM and 101.9FM. The move was mandated by the federal communications office in order to give the old location, 88.4FM, to Lausanne FM radio as part of its new license to broadcast in the Geneva area. The allocation of that slot required other stations to move. WRS notes that the best way to pick up the station is with DAB + (digital) radio.
The station was formerly WRG, a private station, but in 2007 it became part of RSR, French-speaking Switzerland’s public radio. RSR director Gerard Tschopp told GenevaLunch at the time that one goal was to build listeners throughout Switzerland with DAB. Digital radio, unlike FM is not geographically limited.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - RSR radio and TSR television will be reborn as RTS, Radio Télévision Suisse in January, when the regional media will merge. The two are part of the SSR group, Switzerland’s public media company. The merger was announced Wednesday 25 November to staff at the two stations in Lausanne and Geneva.
A savings of CHF6 million for a total budget of CHF392m is expected, with the money to be put into programming. The merger will also result in 30 jobs lost out of 1,600 (fulltime equivalent: 2,000 actual jobs), but over a period of five years.
Shared Internet news ok, but not on radio and TV
Geneva / Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The merger of TSR, public television in French-speaking Switzerland, and RSR, public radio, is meeting some resistance from cantonal governments, which insist the two editorial teams must remain separate and independent. Vaud and Geneva, in a joint statement released Monday 23 November, say they would also like to see the traditional roles maintained of Lausanne as a radio centre and Geneva as a television centre. The statement was made in advance of today’s presentation of the merger project to the board of SSR, the parent company.
Swiss TV news on computer
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland’s federal communications office (Ofcom) director, Martin Dumermuth, told the Berner Zeitung newspaper Thursday that he plans to propose in January a change to the current license fee regulations. Owners of television sets and radios are subject to fees, but Dumermuth would like to include computer and cell phone owners. He was quick to point out that the goal is not to increase license fee revenue: the same amount would be collected, but spread among a larger group, reducing the fee for each type of equipment.
And now, a brief interruption for . . .
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - European TV and radio without borders will soon change listening and viewing habits in Switzerland as well, with the federal government proposing changes to advertising regulations to bring Switzerland in line with neighbouring countries. The new rules would allow advertising once every 90 minutes for news and political programmes and once every 30-45 minutes for other types of programmes, with a daily limit of 15 percent of all programming time for public broadcasting.
Sports and other events will be able to have advertising interruptions similar to those in the rest of Europe.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss Federal Council (cabinet) has told Parliament it does not want the country’s political parties to advertise on television or radio in the run-up to elections, nor does it want to see it pursue legislation to enable this. The decision comes as a result of debate since 2005 over a move to better balance political advertising by giving the parties equal broadcast time.
Note to readers: GenevaLunch editor Ellen Wallace, who writes the GL wine blog “Among the vines,” will be appearing on the WRS radio show “Stir it up” Tuesday 21 April at 10:30 to talk about Swiss wine. Cheers! Wallace writes the Among the Vines blog and was responsible for the English version of the authoritative reference guide, Swiss Wine Guide 2009-2010.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – SSR, the Swiss public broadcasting company, will combine TSR and RSR, its television and radio units in French-speaking Switzerland, as well as its television and radio in German-speaking Switzerland. The move is designed in part as a response to a group 2008 financial loss of CHF79 million, reports TSR, citing an SSR press release, but also as a longer term response to changing audience habits and technical developments in journalism.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Radio Cité, the former religious radio station in Geneva, which was saved from bankruptcy by a CHF1 million annual investment by Genevan Viviane de Witt’s Fondation de Chênes, has seen its audience slipping steadily since January 2007, from 1.9 percent to 1.3 percent of the French-speaking Swiss market. It was granted a license as a community service station in October, one of five stations given licenses in the Lake Geneva region, of 14 federal licenses assigned in October 2008 after months of suspense. The others are commercial stations.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Radio One FM in Geneva, a private station that is one of the city’s most popular, has moved from a state of shock on learning 31 October that its license is not being renewed, to becoming the centre of public attention focused on fighting for its survival. Among those backing its efforts to fight Bern’s decision is the canton of Geneva.
Free radio on demand service providing professional English-language reports related to Switzerland. Check out his interview on the ETH professor in Zurich who wants to bring cheap solar energy to the world.
