Slept for ten years
Urs Rohner on the difficulties of making regional private TV in Switzerland
Urs Rohner on the difficulties of making regional private TV in SwitzerlandTwenty to forty percent market share would be required for Swiss private television broadcasters such as TV 3 or Tele 24 to survive throughout the day. This was the conclusion reached by Urs Rohner, CEO of Pro Sieben Sat 1 Media AG, in Zurich at the invitation of the International Advertising Association, Swiss Chapter (IAA).The Swiss television market is dense but small. 2.86 million TV households give a coverage of 92 percent. In Germany, there are televisions in 34 million households.
In our northern neighboring country, the private stations have established themselves and conquered the audience, said Rohner: their market share is 53.8 percent and they dominate the target group of 14 to 49-year-olds. The public broadcasters had to be content with a 43.3 percent market share. Pay-TV accounted for 1.5 percent.
The situation in Switzerland is the opposite: even though TV 3 has captured many viewers with "Big Brother", the market share of the private stations is only 43.8%. At 55.8 percent, the public stations are clearly in the lead. According to Urs Rohner, this dominance is "politically intentional". The public broadcasters absorbed around 60 percent of the net advertising market.
The private sector would have to divide the rest among themselves. With around CHF 520 million a year for advertising and sponsorship, they would be left with around CHF 208 million. Rohner assumes that a regional-language private broadcaster such as TV 3 or Tele 24 would have to raise at least CHF 100 million per year in order to be able to offer a full program. According to Rohner, such a station would have to achieve a market share of 20 to 40 percent throughout the day in Switzerland in order to survive. Special interest channels would have to achieve around ten percent. However, thanks to "Big Brother", TV 3 only achieved 7.8% towards the end of the year.
The TV manager went on to say that the Swiss market is not an easy task for providers: Production costs are the same as abroad, but the number of potential viewers remains relatively low.
Moreover, the Swiss are not even particularly fond of television. They spend an average of 130 minutes a day watching television, while Germans and French spend around 200 minutes a day in front of the box. Urs Rohner explains the difference by the fact that the Swiss work longer hours than our neighbors.
However, when the Swiss watch television, they have a wide range of channels to choose from. The range of cable channels in this country is much larger than in Germany. The foreign stations already cover practically all needs, and SF DRS has also positioned itself well through a certain degree of tabloidization, according to Rohner.
"In Switzerland, private television came ten years too late," is Rohner's conclusion. The late deregulation has hindered the private television industry. Today, the hurdle for new private television broadcasters has also become high in Germany, where the market has consolidated through mergers.
Nevertheless, Rohner does not rule out the possibility of putting out feelers to Switzerland again in the future with the Pro-Sieben Sat-1 Group. Bruno Amstutz
In our northern neighboring country, the private stations have established themselves and conquered the audience, said Rohner: their market share is 53.8 percent and they dominate the target group of 14 to 49-year-olds. The public broadcasters had to be content with a 43.3 percent market share. Pay-TV accounted for 1.5 percent.
The situation in Switzerland is the opposite: even though TV 3 has captured many viewers with "Big Brother", the market share of the private stations is only 43.8%. At 55.8 percent, the public stations are clearly in the lead. According to Urs Rohner, this dominance is "politically intentional". The public broadcasters absorbed around 60 percent of the net advertising market.
The private sector would have to divide the rest among themselves. With around CHF 520 million a year for advertising and sponsorship, they would be left with around CHF 208 million. Rohner assumes that a regional-language private broadcaster such as TV 3 or Tele 24 would have to raise at least CHF 100 million per year in order to be able to offer a full program. According to Rohner, such a station would have to achieve a market share of 20 to 40 percent throughout the day in Switzerland in order to survive. Special interest channels would have to achieve around ten percent. However, thanks to "Big Brother", TV 3 only achieved 7.8% towards the end of the year.
The TV manager went on to say that the Swiss market is not an easy task for providers: Production costs are the same as abroad, but the number of potential viewers remains relatively low.
Moreover, the Swiss are not even particularly fond of television. They spend an average of 130 minutes a day watching television, while Germans and French spend around 200 minutes a day in front of the box. Urs Rohner explains the difference by the fact that the Swiss work longer hours than our neighbors.
However, when the Swiss watch television, they have a wide range of channels to choose from. The range of cable channels in this country is much larger than in Germany. The foreign stations already cover practically all needs, and SF DRS has also positioned itself well through a certain degree of tabloidization, according to Rohner.
"In Switzerland, private television came ten years too late," is Rohner's conclusion. The late deregulation has hindered the private television industry. Today, the hurdle for new private television broadcasters has also become high in Germany, where the market has consolidated through mergers.
Nevertheless, Rohner does not rule out the possibility of putting out feelers to Switzerland again in the future with the Pro-Sieben Sat-1 Group. Bruno Amstutz
