"For the little ones, it's not just cash that's important".
What the new TeleNewsCombi brings to the big and small members
What the new TeleNewsCombi brings to the big and small membersNine regional television stations and Tele 24 have joined forces to form the new TeleNewsCombi (TNC) (see also WW 42/00). Master builders Christian Stärkle, managing director of Tele M1, and Bruno Oetterli, managing director of Radiotele, say who the new combi will benefit and where it wants to position itself.Has the market been waiting for TeleNewsCombi (TNC)?
Bruno Oetterli: Until now, we were always told that TeleCombi only covered the areas west of Zurich. When the eastern part of Switzerland was added, it was said that Zurich was still missing. Now we have Zurich with us, so it's fair to say that we have adapted to the market. Now we expect the market to honor this.
What does TNC offer that neither the advertising windows nor TV 3 nor SF DRS can offer?
Christian Stärkle: Several things. First, an environment in the news sector that extends down to the regional, local level. No one else can offer that to the same extent. In addition, we can guarantee that we have virtually no fluctuations in ratings.
Isn't regionalism just a myth?
Oetterli: No, the regional stations effectively achieve their performance in the first half hour in which the regional news is broadcast.
TNC's price was said to be 10 to 15 percent lower than that of SF DRS. But if your regional focus were really such an important USP, you wouldn't have to be so rigidly oriented to SF DRS in terms of price.
Stärkle: The price will differ, of course. But we want to be about 10 to 15 percent cheaper on average. The fact is that the market leader sets the price. The fact that he also appears on the market subsidized by fees hurts us immensely. But we have to live up to this fact. If we don't, we're out.
Only you want exactly this form of subsidy, too. Just the week before last, your association Telesuisse demanded a share of the fees for regional TVs (WW 41/00). Will you lower your prices if this demand is met one day?
Stärkle: The idea is not a priori that we lower our prices, but that we set prices in line with the market. After all, our services are worth something. Money that we take in, also from the fee side, we would consequently put into the program. If we were to receive fees, the fee payer would hardly want us to offer low-priced advertising in the market.
Sure, because the TNC price will already be a dump.
Oetterli: No, we calculated it based on a comparison. Ultimately, we have to hold our own in the market and align ourselves with our customers. According to their guidelines, we are still quite high-priced with the TNC price.
However, usually a combination price is 10 to 20 percent cheaper than single occupancy.
However, the TNC is nearly 50 percent cheaper than the individual partners combined.
Oetterli: I can't say anything about that at the moment because I haven't seen the pricing details yet.
How much does each partner get?
Stärkle: They receive exactly what they achieve with their ratings. We then adjust that on a quarterly basis.
So for the small TNC partners, not much is looking out.
Oetterli: I'm of the opinion that it's not just cash that's important for the small ones. Regional TVs live not only from "national business," but from regional business. If we now bring the labels of big advertisers to the so-called small players on the screen, this also makes it easier for them to work in the regional area. You have to see this interaction.
But if we take the single-occupancy rates as a basis, isn't it the case that the small companies have to bleed more in percentage terms in favor of TNC than, say, Tele Züri?
Oetterli: That's clear. But when it comes to advertising revenues, the shares of local/regional and national customers are different. Today, the small companies have no national customers at all and are fighting in the local and regional market. Tomorrow, however, they will have national customers. Maybe they won't get as much in cash, but they will have them. This, in turn, means that they can generate regional funds that they can effectively put into the program. And if they improve the program, then they participate.
Won't the regional rates of the individual regional TV stations also come tumbling down because of the TNC?
Stärkle: I don't think so. In the regional market, the price is not in competition with SF DRS, but with a regional newspaper or a regional radio station. So because the competitive situation is completely different, the price structure can also be completely different.
Tele 24 was primarily portrayed as a locomotive. But Tele 24 is still relatively little seen outside Zurich, so it benefits from regional support.
Stärkle: Of course. Both sides benefit. Tele 24 benefits from the support in the individual regions, and at the same time the regionals benefit from the amount of viewers that Tele 24 brings into this combo with Tele Züri.
Bruno Oetterli, will the TNC with its different fleas and the tensions among the eastern Swiss last until 2002?
Oetterli: The combinations in the private radio scene are also more stable today than they were five years ago, even though we don't have a common market opponent there. In the TV sector, on the other hand, the common market opponent alone will make people think twice before leaving the TNC. So I think 2002 is quite a realistic figure. Interview: Markus Knöpfli
TeleCombi becomes TeleNewsCombiAs already announced, TeleCombi will receive strong growth at the beginning of 2001 and will then offer a total of nine regional television stations and Tele 24 as one package on the advertising market as TeleNewsCombi (TNC). The aim is to be priced about 10 to 15 percent below SF DRS and about 20 percent above the advertising windows.
The TNC guarantees at least 600,000 advertising contacts in the news environment every day. It also offers the option of national advertising with regional spots. An exposure includes at least 15 repeats per station. The gross rates for the first half of 2001 are CHF 8100 for January, CHF 8700 for February, CHF 9300 for March, CHF 9600 for April, CHF 9000 for May and CHF 7800 for June. This means that TNC will achieve a GRP of 3.8 per frequency, including repeats, for the target group of 15- to 49-year-olds (and not just 1.7, as erroneously written in WW 42). In the first year, the TNC partners expect additional revenues totaling ten million francs - money they hope to collect primarily from German advertising windows in Switzerland. Starting in April 2001, eight TNC partners (excluding Schawinski stations) will align their second half of programming on two days: Wednesdays will feature a regional talk show on a unified theme, Fridays a trend magazine. Later, another health program is planned.
Bruno Oetterli: Until now, we were always told that TeleCombi only covered the areas west of Zurich. When the eastern part of Switzerland was added, it was said that Zurich was still missing. Now we have Zurich with us, so it's fair to say that we have adapted to the market. Now we expect the market to honor this.
What does TNC offer that neither the advertising windows nor TV 3 nor SF DRS can offer?
Christian Stärkle: Several things. First, an environment in the news sector that extends down to the regional, local level. No one else can offer that to the same extent. In addition, we can guarantee that we have virtually no fluctuations in ratings.
Isn't regionalism just a myth?
Oetterli: No, the regional stations effectively achieve their performance in the first half hour in which the regional news is broadcast.
TNC's price was said to be 10 to 15 percent lower than that of SF DRS. But if your regional focus were really such an important USP, you wouldn't have to be so rigidly oriented to SF DRS in terms of price.
Stärkle: The price will differ, of course. But we want to be about 10 to 15 percent cheaper on average. The fact is that the market leader sets the price. The fact that he also appears on the market subsidized by fees hurts us immensely. But we have to live up to this fact. If we don't, we're out.
Only you want exactly this form of subsidy, too. Just the week before last, your association Telesuisse demanded a share of the fees for regional TVs (WW 41/00). Will you lower your prices if this demand is met one day?
Stärkle: The idea is not a priori that we lower our prices, but that we set prices in line with the market. After all, our services are worth something. Money that we take in, also from the fee side, we would consequently put into the program. If we were to receive fees, the fee payer would hardly want us to offer low-priced advertising in the market.
Sure, because the TNC price will already be a dump.
Oetterli: No, we calculated it based on a comparison. Ultimately, we have to hold our own in the market and align ourselves with our customers. According to their guidelines, we are still quite high-priced with the TNC price.
However, usually a combination price is 10 to 20 percent cheaper than single occupancy.
However, the TNC is nearly 50 percent cheaper than the individual partners combined.
Oetterli: I can't say anything about that at the moment because I haven't seen the pricing details yet.
How much does each partner get?
Stärkle: They receive exactly what they achieve with their ratings. We then adjust that on a quarterly basis.
So for the small TNC partners, not much is looking out.
Oetterli: I'm of the opinion that it's not just cash that's important for the small ones. Regional TVs live not only from "national business," but from regional business. If we now bring the labels of big advertisers to the so-called small players on the screen, this also makes it easier for them to work in the regional area. You have to see this interaction.
But if we take the single-occupancy rates as a basis, isn't it the case that the small companies have to bleed more in percentage terms in favor of TNC than, say, Tele Züri?
Oetterli: That's clear. But when it comes to advertising revenues, the shares of local/regional and national customers are different. Today, the small companies have no national customers at all and are fighting in the local and regional market. Tomorrow, however, they will have national customers. Maybe they won't get as much in cash, but they will have them. This, in turn, means that they can generate regional funds that they can effectively put into the program. And if they improve the program, then they participate.
Won't the regional rates of the individual regional TV stations also come tumbling down because of the TNC?
Stärkle: I don't think so. In the regional market, the price is not in competition with SF DRS, but with a regional newspaper or a regional radio station. So because the competitive situation is completely different, the price structure can also be completely different.
Tele 24 was primarily portrayed as a locomotive. But Tele 24 is still relatively little seen outside Zurich, so it benefits from regional support.
Stärkle: Of course. Both sides benefit. Tele 24 benefits from the support in the individual regions, and at the same time the regionals benefit from the amount of viewers that Tele 24 brings into this combo with Tele Züri.
Bruno Oetterli, will the TNC with its different fleas and the tensions among the eastern Swiss last until 2002?
Oetterli: The combinations in the private radio scene are also more stable today than they were five years ago, even though we don't have a common market opponent there. In the TV sector, on the other hand, the common market opponent alone will make people think twice before leaving the TNC. So I think 2002 is quite a realistic figure. Interview: Markus Knöpfli
TeleCombi becomes TeleNewsCombiAs already announced, TeleCombi will receive strong growth at the beginning of 2001 and will then offer a total of nine regional television stations and Tele 24 as one package on the advertising market as TeleNewsCombi (TNC). The aim is to be priced about 10 to 15 percent below SF DRS and about 20 percent above the advertising windows.
The TNC guarantees at least 600,000 advertising contacts in the news environment every day. It also offers the option of national advertising with regional spots. An exposure includes at least 15 repeats per station. The gross rates for the first half of 2001 are CHF 8100 for January, CHF 8700 for February, CHF 9300 for March, CHF 9600 for April, CHF 9000 for May and CHF 7800 for June. This means that TNC will achieve a GRP of 3.8 per frequency, including repeats, for the target group of 15- to 49-year-olds (and not just 1.7, as erroneously written in WW 42). In the first year, the TNC partners expect additional revenues totaling ten million francs - money they hope to collect primarily from German advertising windows in Switzerland. Starting in April 2001, eight TNC partners (excluding Schawinski stations) will align their second half of programming on two days: Wednesdays will feature a regional talk show on a unified theme, Fridays a trend magazine. Later, another health program is planned.
