Mass wedding on the Internet
Of the major ISPs, only Datacomm has not yet committed to a media partner
Of the major ISPs, only Datacomm has not yet committed itself to a media partnerBy Clemens Hörler An initial consolidation has taken place in the cooperation between Internet service providers and media companies as content providers. They now also want to attract "foreign" Internet users to their portals.
Blue Window with TA-Media AG, SwissOnline with Swiss Txt, Sunrise with News.ch and the Swiss Confederation - more and more negotiations between major Internet service providers (ISPs) and Swiss media companies are bearing fruit in the form of strategic partnerships in which the providers and their portals benefit from the content of the media houses and the media houses from the traffic of the ISPs.
Of the very large providers with over 100,000 visitors per day, only Datacomm has not yet announced a cooperation partner in the news area. They are still in the middle of negotiations with content suppliers from various areas, for example general news, financial information or travel, explains Angelika Trovato, Marketing Manager at Datacomm. For this reason, the relaunch of the portal, which was announced for April 1, has been postponed until next month.
The Basler Medien Gruppe (BMG), for example, could be considered as a possible strategic partner. Myriam Mathys, Head of New Media at BMG (see also WW 13/00), said in response to a question only that they were open to all sensible possibilities offered by the Internet. Cooperation with providers is also being examined.
However, the planned massive expenditures will primarily be used to expand the company's own offerings. Ringier has been in talks with various providers, but has massive traffic on Blick.ch in particular, even without outside help. With ZHOL, the publisher is already active in the local portal business and, as in the case of Cash and Borsalino, is trying to participate in specific channels with individual brands (see WW 6/00).
Sunrise has already won the Bund, News.ch (Internet Medien AG) and Borsalino as news partners for its Go.Sunrise portal. But the platform is open to other content providers, including local ones, emphasized spokesman Stephan Howeg. Go.Sunrise is to become a national portal on which the regions are also well served. Unlike Datacomm and SwissOnline, Sunrise is gradually expanding its portal. The relaunch announced for the beginning of April has been delayed because not all negotiations on strategic alliances have been concluded yet, explained Howeg.
Prestige property Real Video joins SRI for now
ISPs can no longer afford to offer only technological solutions. They also have to offer customers attractive content and are looking beyond their own customer base. "In the medium term, an ISP cannot survive if it only focuses on registered customers," says Eric W. Zeller, Head of Corporate Communications at SwissOnline AG. The website must also be made interesting for non-customers. After all, more visitors mean more revenue from e-commerce participations and banner advertising.
For the time being, the portals will be filled primarily with texts and photos. However, it is only a question of time and bandwidth before radio and TV stations also appear as content providers for the big portals. SF DRS would apparently be particularly in demand as a prestige partner. According to Markus J. Ragginger, head of marketing and communications at SF DRS online, SF DRS online has held talks with almost all major ISPs. For the time being, however, the TV station is only providing non-company platforms with information related to its programming. Only Swissinfo.org, the platform of the SRG SSR company Schweizer Radio International, will receive real video news.
Blue Window with TA-Media AG, SwissOnline with Swiss Txt, Sunrise with News.ch and the Swiss Confederation - more and more negotiations between major Internet service providers (ISPs) and Swiss media companies are bearing fruit in the form of strategic partnerships in which the providers and their portals benefit from the content of the media houses and the media houses from the traffic of the ISPs.
Of the very large providers with over 100,000 visitors per day, only Datacomm has not yet announced a cooperation partner in the news area. They are still in the middle of negotiations with content suppliers from various areas, for example general news, financial information or travel, explains Angelika Trovato, Marketing Manager at Datacomm. For this reason, the relaunch of the portal, which was announced for April 1, has been postponed until next month.
The Basler Medien Gruppe (BMG), for example, could be considered as a possible strategic partner. Myriam Mathys, Head of New Media at BMG (see also WW 13/00), said in response to a question only that they were open to all sensible possibilities offered by the Internet. Cooperation with providers is also being examined.
However, the planned massive expenditures will primarily be used to expand the company's own offerings. Ringier has been in talks with various providers, but has massive traffic on Blick.ch in particular, even without outside help. With ZHOL, the publisher is already active in the local portal business and, as in the case of Cash and Borsalino, is trying to participate in specific channels with individual brands (see WW 6/00).
Sunrise has already won the Bund, News.ch (Internet Medien AG) and Borsalino as news partners for its Go.Sunrise portal. But the platform is open to other content providers, including local ones, emphasized spokesman Stephan Howeg. Go.Sunrise is to become a national portal on which the regions are also well served. Unlike Datacomm and SwissOnline, Sunrise is gradually expanding its portal. The relaunch announced for the beginning of April has been delayed because not all negotiations on strategic alliances have been concluded yet, explained Howeg.
Prestige property Real Video joins SRI for now
ISPs can no longer afford to offer only technological solutions. They also have to offer customers attractive content and are looking beyond their own customer base. "In the medium term, an ISP cannot survive if it only focuses on registered customers," says Eric W. Zeller, Head of Corporate Communications at SwissOnline AG. The website must also be made interesting for non-customers. After all, more visitors mean more revenue from e-commerce participations and banner advertising.
For the time being, the portals will be filled primarily with texts and photos. However, it is only a question of time and bandwidth before radio and TV stations also appear as content providers for the big portals. SF DRS would apparently be particularly in demand as a prestige partner. According to Markus J. Ragginger, head of marketing and communications at SF DRS online, SF DRS online has held talks with almost all major ISPs. For the time being, however, the TV station is only providing non-company platforms with information related to its programming. Only Swissinfo.org, the platform of the SRG SSR company Schweizer Radio International, will receive real video news.
