Bernerbär and Telebasel want new regional television in Bern

As IMS Marketing and the Baselmedia Foundation announced on Tuesday, they want to bring "real regionality" back to Bern's screens with the BärnTV channel. IMS Marketing is, among other things, publisher of the free weekly newspaper Bernerbär. For its part, the Baselmedia Foundation operates the regional television station Telebasel.

BärnTV's programming clearly focuses on regional reporting. "The diverse sub-regions of the canton of Berne deserve to be represented in genuine, honest and, above all, regional media," Erwin Gross, Chairman of the Board of Directors of IMS Marketing, was quoted as saying in the press release.

The Baselmedia Foundation has been making regional television in Basel for 30 years, according to the communiqué. For the new planned station, it is providing support in broadcast design and helping to build up the production team, among other things.

The license application calls for a staff of 29 full-time positions, divided among about 40 employees. There are also plans to set up a modern TV studio that will enable all planned and future broadcast formats. An initial investment of 2.2 million Swiss francs is planned. The studio location in the greater Bern area has not yet been definitively determined.

Telebärn also submitted an application

On request, the editor-in-chief of Telebärn, Markus von Känel, said that AZ Regionalfernsehen had again applied for a concession for Telebärn for the period from 2025. They had assumed that other competitors would also be interested in the concession and submit an application.

The current local radio and regional television licenses expire at the end of 2024. Bakom has put 38 licenses out to tender for the period 2025 to 2034, as it announced at the end of January 2023. Radio and television broadcasters could apply for them until the end of April 2023. Bakom is expected to award the licenses at the end of the year. (SDA/swi)