Canal 3 Wins Hostile Fight Over Ownership

“It is a story of revenge, lust for power and despicableness which has cost us a great deal of energy and motivation,” said station director Frederik Stucki, relieved after the 10 month struggle.

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Canal 3 was launched in 1984 by a foundation to provide a bi-lingual radio service to the north-central bi-lingual Swiss canton. Though financially organized as a not-for-profit broadcaster, Canal 3 operated as a commercial station. During years of lean advertising revenue, it could lean on a partial municipal and state subsidies and a federal subsidy through the radio license fees. In good years, any profit was deducted from the subsidy.

2002 was, according to Stucki, a good year, with extra revenue from Swiss Expo 2002. But 2003 was very bad financially. Last year, as all Swiss radio stations neared license renewal time, BAKOM “suggested” the station look for a different company structure, moving away from the foundation and subsidies and toward a new owner.

The financial set-back in 2003 forced the station to reduce its staff, by one. That one person had been in charge of the French language programs and his termination set in motion a series of events and political blackmailing that included personal attacks on Stucki by two local Biel newspapers, which, according to Stucki, had in mind to take control of the station. The campaign by the newspapers attempted to raise a public outcry that the station would no longer provide French language programming.

Said Stucki, “In week two of the campaign, I found myself in a caricature on the front page, in Nazi uniform with skulls and all it takes, smoking machine gun, some blackened legs of dead French editors in the air, and in order to make sure everyone knows who they aim at: STUCKI marked on the cap.”

Both the original Canal 3 concession and the new concession issued with the ownership change include special conditions requiring it to maintain its unique bi-lingual programming.

Espace Media Groupe owns Radio Extra Berne and TeleBern as well as several newspapers. Another special condition to the new Canal 3 concession requires editorial separation from Radio Extra Berne. Biel newspapers Bieler Tagblatt and Journal du Jura are owned by W.Gassmann AG, which owns television station Telebielingue.

Previously published in Radio World International, March 2005, in slightly different form.

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Radio Framboise Becomes Rouge FM - July 7, 2005

New owners of Swiss radio station have a new strategy with a new name.

Rouge FM emerges from the ashes of Radio Framboise, as new owner Maxiris announces (July 1) a strategy to compete head-on with Swiss public channel La Premiere. The name change comes with a programming change toward more information and, according to Swiss news agency ATS, distancing itself from the all music format of the former brand.

Radio Framboise was one of the original private local radio stations in French speaking Switzerland, launched in 1989. The channel regularly ranked number one or two among commercial stations in audience surveys, alternating with Lausanne FM. Financially, the station suffered and was sold by founder Philippe Zumbrunn to Maxiris last April.

Maxiris intends to apply to Swiss regulator OFCOM for expanded coverage to Geneva. “It is clear that it is a vital element to be present in Geneva,” said company president Hugues de Montfalon in an interview with newspaper 24 Heures.

Stucki Promoted at Espace Media, Radio Extra Bern. - April 15, 2005

Espace Media Group (EMG) appointed Frederik Stucki to a new position, Publizistischer Leiter Radios, responsible for all EMG programming. He will also assume programming duties of Radio Extra Bern. The appointments are effective May 1st.

“EMG solicited my advice…to turn the situation (at Radio Extra) around,” said Stucki. “We decided that I will lead the project myself. At the same time, it was unthinkable to deprive the still very vulnerable Canal 3 from my backing. The anti-C3-propaganda has, of course, continued, even though we are ‘safe’ economically and with regard to our license.”

Nik Eugster remains the program director of Canal 3.

Stucki is Secretary-General of the Association of European Radio (AER).