Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Radio Frontier is about to go live, at least on the web, offering English speakers in the Lake Geneva region a new music and information service with a voice that will be familiar to many: Mark Butcher, who for several years hosted The Breakfast Show on WRG and later WRS radio, will be providing one of the key shows on Radio Frontier.
The new station was founded by Butcher and Peter Sibley, formerly of World Television in Geneva, to provide commercial radio with a very local slant that focuses on the French-Swiss border area.
RadioFrontier will initially be available at www.radiofrontier.ch, operating from new studios in Meyrin, with plans to expand in 2012.
Radio in English is growing
WRS and RadioFrontier are the only English stations in the region, although there are others, mainly available online, in Switzerland. They include Mountain Radio Verbier, also started by an ex-WRS employee, Conor Lennon.
Main sources of Swiss news in English
The new radio station boosts the English-language information offer that is produced in the region, whose main providers include:
- GenevaLunch, the main producer of regional online news and events listings in English
- public radio station WRS, World Radio Switzerland, which has a Swiss nationwide broadcast mandate and operates online and via DAB and FM
- swissinfo, the online English information arm of Swiss broadcasting, whose main mission is to keep overseas Swiss informed about their country
- Glocals, a local social network now connected to BuyClub.ch, for “group-buying deals”.
International Link is a non-profit organization started by the Vaud Chamber of Commerce to provide a business-based network for the area that introduces foreigners and Swiss people.
Swisster, an online English language news service started by Swiss publisher Edipresse, closed in December 2010.
There are several small local groups based in or near Geneva and Lausanne that provide a variety of services and products for English-speakers, some mainly for expatriates who are relatively new to Switzerland (see list at end).
Switzerland’s international population also attracts outside companies
In addition, Switzerland’s English speakers, viewed as well-educated and well-paid, are wooed by a number of social network and information groups based outside the region. Some, like AngloInfo, a business directory and forum, have strong local ties: the franchise is operated by a Geneva area resident, although some of the information comes from the larger parent group, whose roots are in the south of France.
Others have no, or very little, Swiss presence: Expatica is based in The Netherlands (note: they carry news from swissinfo and GenevaLunch news feeds, with our permission); the English Forum, a social network used by many newcomers to Switzerland, actually based in and moderated from Sweden and Germany and linked to a new news site called local.ch, run from Sweden.
Geneva.com is another “local” news site, run from Argentina.
GenevaLunch “friends”
Local information providers who offer good quality; some offer networking and others sell products:
Books, Books, Books in Lausanne
Expat-Expo, based in Zug
Know it All
Leman Events and Leman Expat Fair
Off the Shelf, online and in Geneva
Business clubs
American International Club
British-Swiss Chamber of Commerce
Executives International
Owit, Organization of Women in International Trade
Roger de Weck, new SSR CEO in January 2011
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss Public Broadcasting Corporation, SSR, will be tightening its belt in January by streamlining its administrative structure. The company will be acting on the advice of Roger de Weck, who takes over in January as chief executive officer, to reduce the senior management team from nine members with four “paticipants” to seven members, with the four participants used as consultants on an occasional basis.
SSR owns TSR television, RSR radio, WRS radio and the swissinfo web site in the Lake Geneva region as well as several other media, in several languages, throughout Switzerland.
Long-time station personality in Geneva, Pete Forster remains a key on-air voice for WRS
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – World Radio Switzerland (WRS), public radio in English in Switzerland, is adding 27 hours of programming thanks to new partnerships with US-based public radio: National Public Radio, American Public Media and Public Radio International. The station’s partnership with Britain’s public radio, the BBC, will continue, for international news and special programmes.
The new programming was quietly incorporated into the autumn schedule that began at the end of August, but the station is officially launching the new partnerships Friday to send a signal that the station, three years old, is moving firmly ahead with its mission to become a Swiss-wide station with good quality programming aimed at English speakers in Switzerland.
SSR cost-cutting part of the deal
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Billag, the company that charges households a Swiss television and license fee which forms a key component in the budget of SSR, Swiss public broadcasting, will bill only once a year starting in 2011, the Swiss government has decided. The annual fee for private households is a little over CHF460.
Billag currently bills quarterly, sending 12 million bills annually for total annual fees of CHF1.4 billion. The shift will provide administrative cost savings of CHF9-10 million, mainly for printed paper, that can be passed on to SSR, says Bern.
SSR has lobbied heavily for higher license fees and greater freedom to advertise, in order to meet the growing cost of continuing to produce original material. The Federal Council in June 2010 approved a budget of CHF134.5 million, but it refused to accept SSR’s proposals for CHF14m to improve the state of the pension fund, CHF16m to increase its capital and CHF3.5m for various expenses. It called on SSR to economize in order to cover these and other costs, but it also relaxed some of the public media advertising restrictions slightly.
The June decision also emphasized a stronger role for French media programmes, insisting that some of the budget be deployed to create more original material in French.
One part of the budget cuts proposed by SSR has been to eliminate swissinfo, but a spokeswoman at the federal communications office confirmed to GenevaLunch that the move would require the approval of the federal government. World Radio Switzerland is also part of the SSR family, as are TSR television and RSR radio.
Swiss-wide smoking ban - Photo Flickr Hance Gessell
Update 2 May A new Swiss federal smoking ban went into effect 1 May.
The new law seeks to bar smoking from all public places but allows it in some confined, closed areas. Cantons may enforce looser or stricter rules.
World Radio Switzerland carries a conversation featuring activists on both sides of the debate.
Deficit for 2010 expected to soar due to sports coverage
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - SSR, Swiss public broadcasting, is seeking the right to raise more funds through advertising and license fees, saying its funding situation is “critical” with a third annual deficit of CHF75 million expected for 2010. The figure was put forward Tuesday 27 April when the group published its key financial figures for 2009, showing a CHF46.7m deficit. The figure was better than the loss SSR had in 2008 of CHF79.1m, but the group needs the government’s approval to increase the level of advertising or license fees to add revenue, just as it needs the cabinet (Federal Council) to give it the right to cut back editorially, on content.
SSR owns TSR television, RSR radio, WRS English radio and the swissinfo web site for the Swiss abroad, as well as German, Italian and Romansch radio and TV stations.
The company blames the loss for a sharp drop in commercial sales in 2009, down more than 26 percent, when Swiss media in general suffered from a large decline in advertising revenue.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Journalists will be spared but 100 of their colleagues in support services at SSR, Swiss Public Broadcasting Corporation, will lose their jobs between now and 2014. Support services, with 735 employees, include: computer services, real estate, logistics, human resources, training, communications, marketing, and accounting.
SSR owns TSR television, RSR radio and WRS English radio, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.
Taking a bite out of Swiss bankers' bonuses
Taking a bite out of Swiss bankers' bonuses
Credit Suisse cuts bonuses to pay UK tax, UBS told by Finma to reduce payout
Migros takes in former big bank clients
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland’s two largest banks will be paying out bonuses, but the amounts are shrinking. Credit Suisse, has told several media 19 January that its overall bonus pool will shrink by 5 percent as it reduces payouts to senior managers to cover the new UK bank tax. The UK has announced it will levy a 50 percent tax on bonuses over £25,000, a one-time charge. Some 400 senior managers in the UK will have their bonuses cut up to 30 percent, Bloomberg reports.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – “Inside Switzerland”, which was started in 2007 as a glossy Swiss-wide magazine providing news and features in English, has ceased publication of both the quarterly print magazine and its online newsletter. The magazine was published by Schweizer and Davies Media in Zurich, which was founded by Jennifer Davies and Sabine Schweizer.
Davies is an arts presenter on World Radio Switzerland.
Editor-in-chief Schweizer notes in her letter to readers that the publication “has not been able to withstand current financial pressures.”
The quarterly print publication sold for CHF35 for four issues before it folded.
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.
Fewer Geneva roadworks, as tram goes into service
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – If you haven’t yet done so, be sure to shift your radio settings to find World Radio Switzerland in its new FM home: 101.7FM. And this is the weekend when the TPG (Geneva public transport) puts its new schedule into effect, including the new line to Meyrin and more frequent buses and trams on several lines, so doublecheck your travel plans if you’re heading across town. Monday 14 December the new CFF rail schedule goes into effect for all of Switzerland, so make no assumptions about when your train is leaving. Two additional trains should make life easier for urban commuters: an extra late afternoon train from Bern to Zurich (16:14) is designed to ease pressure on that often-packed line, as is an 18:31 regional train from Lausanne to Geneva.
Links for details: CFF, TPG (note: Sunday night the site was being updated), WRS
WRS news conference
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - World Radio Switzerland (WRS), public radio in English, moves to 101.7 on the FM band 8 December, in the Geneva region, the station announced 3 December. Change your settings before next Tuesday! The move does not affect listeners who pick up WRS via online streaming, satellite, cable or DAB.
WorldRadio Switzerland, 101.7FM
The move is the result of musical chairs, or in this case FM slots, ordered by Ofcom, the federal telecommunications regulatory body. Radio Lausanne FM was awarded a license to start broadcasting in the Geneva area, but since it currently broadcasts on 88.4 in Lausanne a new slot had to be found for it: 88.4FM in Geneva, which WRS currently uses. WRS moves up as a result, to 101.7FM, currently used by Espace 2, also a member of the RSR public radio group in the region.
The changes for the three stations, in the Geneva area, will not occur at the same time:
- Thursday 3 December, Espace 2 stops using 101.7 and moves to 100.7FM
- Tuesday 8 December at midnight, WRS stops using 88.4 and moves to 101.7FM
- Tuesday 15 December, Lausanne FM starts broadcasting in the Geneva area on 88.4FM
WorldRadio Switzerland provides a mix of locally-produced news, information, entertainment and music to people who live in Switzerland. The BBC is its partner for international news and some additional programming.
Links to stations’ sites: Espace 2, Lausanne FM, WRS
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.
Lake Geneva beach
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Radio statistics for the first half of 2009 are out, reflecting changes in licenses and listener habits for the first time since the Swiss federal government redistributed licenses in October 2008. A station can operate without a license, but it does not receive a share of the mandatory fees collected.
Radio Cité, which was given one of three new licenses among the 14 in total, has lost ground in Geneva and remains the least-listened-to station, with some 12,000 daily listeners on average in Geneva, while One FM, which initially lost its license despite being the city’s most popular private radio station, then was offered Buzz FM’s license by that station, has gained ground and now has 75,600 daily listeners.
The lion’s share of radio audiences goes to the several public radion stations owned by SSR, the public broadcasting system. The youngest member, English-languge World Radio Switzerland (WRS), is slowly but steadily building its audience, particularly beyond its original home (as World Radio Geneva, a private station) throughout Switzerland as it develops into a national English-language station.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – SSR, the Swiss Broadcasting Company, is freezing salaries effective the end of 2009, as well as new hires, part of a series of measures to economize in the face of a growing deficit. The company announced Tuesday 23 June that the state-supported system will see its deficit grow from CHF200-790 million by 2014 without larger subsidies or revenues.
The salary freeze will allow the company to save CHF30 million a year, but it still needs to find another CHF40m a year to remain financially healthy.
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.
Updated link: If you haven’t visited the WRS classifieds pages in a while you’ll be in for a surprise: easier to user, visually more pleasing. The radio station stopped running classifieds on air in 2009.
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.
Title: Matt Leighton on sports
Location: Geneva
Description: Great British Breakfast, British Swiss Chamber of Commerce
Start Time: 07:45
Date: 2008-10-02
End Time: 08:45
