Swiss TV Day: What's coming on television next year
The Swiss Screen-up took place for the 18th time on 26 September. In a packed Maag Halle in Zurich, we found out what the most important channels in the Swiss TV landscape have up their sleeves for the coming year. A report on German celebrities in Switzerland, top models and cappuccinos costing 6000 francs.
The organisers of the 18th screen-up are delighted. "It's never been this full before," they announce proudly. After all: I and around 900 other guests fill the hall to the last seat. We are eagerly waiting to find out what the next TV season has in store for us. Everyone who is anyone in the Swiss TV landscape has their say on stage: The RTL Media Group, the SevenOne Media channels (ProSieben, Sat1, Puls8), the 3 Plus Group (3+, 4+, 5+) and, of course, the SRG channels (Swiss Television). We learn all kinds of new things, but also witness a show that does one thing above all else: celebrate itself.
Bertrand Jungo and Alexander Duphorn kick things off. They present us with figures that illustrate how great live TV is developing. The number of available channels has increased and there is something for everyone: young or old, male or female. Charts and tables show ratings that are shooting skywards, arrows pointing steeply upwards - a perfect TV world. I wonder how long statisticians had to search to pull these great figures out of a hat somewhere.
It's no secret that live TV is suffering from the almost overwhelming competition from streaming services such as Netflix or GooglePlay. After all, I can decide for myself when I want to watch what. And how much of it. Even the sports programme is shifting to streaming platforms like DAZN. Will the new TV programme for 2018 change anything?
First block: RTL Media Group kicks things off
Here we go. The first of numerous loud and emotional trailers is playing. NTV doesn't just want to report the news, it also wants to scrutinise it. Not everything that is tweeted around is reliable news. The documentary format "Giants of History", in which famous buildings are dissected like Lego bricks using elaborate CGI, is entering its second round. I like CGI stuff like this, so I'll definitely be watching it.
RTL2 makes it clear in several loud trailers that they want to show "more" of everything. More reality, more drama and - of course - more naked skin. In the programme "Naked Attraction", a candidate of one sex is at the centre. Six other candidates of the opposite sex strip completely naked and present themselves in covered boxes. The highlight: the boxes are only uncovered piece by piece - the face comes at the end. Whenever a new part of the body is revealed, one of the candidates is eliminated. It goes something like this: The candidate in the centre says that the penis of one of them is hanging symmetrically, but unfortunately the other's is a little less so, and that's why he's out now. I quickly realise that this is a really sophisticated dating show. And because RTL2 wants "more" of it, an extension of the format is already in the works. Soon it won't be just any candidates who are presented naked, but - dramatic pause - celebrities! I can only shake my head at all this.
Furthermore, in "Traumhochzeit zum Schnäppchenpreis" Daniela Katzenberger is supposed to help selected candidates to a wedding that... oh, I think the name says it all.
Slightly less loud, but no less exciting, thanks to VOX. In the new thriller series "Gone", an American studio has produced, filmed and cast a TV show for a European broadcaster - a first. The trailer does indeed look promising. It's going on my watchlist. In "Die Höhle der Löwen", inventors and engineers venture into the proverbial lion's den and present their business ideas (for example: Germany's first baby spa). As in a casting show, their idea is either rejected or supported.
The channel Nitro explains that it wants to emancipate itself from "RTL", which is why the suffix "RTL" will be dropped in future. The focus will be placed even more strongly on the male audience. Formats such as "Topgear" or the new "Mythbusters" have found their way into the programme. In terms of series, the programme aims to offer titles such as "The Blacklist" or the new "Taken", which tells the prequel to Luc Besson's film series.
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Also nice: Super RTL is bringing back the cult children's programme "Super Toy Club". Here, two teams of children compete against each other in mini-games, with something very special awaiting the winner: Equipped with a shopping trolley, they race through a toy shop and pack as many toys as possible - until time runs out. Every child's dream.
RTL closes the 1st screening block and brings magic into play: The Ehrlich Brothers have attracted attention throughout Germany thanks to their fantastic magic shows and packed halls. RTL is now giving them their own TV show with "Showdown of the world's best magicians". Talents from all over the world fight ... pardon, perform magic for the prize money worth 10,000 euros. The show is hosted by the Ehrlich Brothers, with the audience acting as the jury. The trailer shown to us in the auditorium looks very promising indeed. I've got it bookmarked!
Second block: celebrity alarm in Zurich
The first thing Klaas Heufer-Umlauf gets is thunderous applause. Together with his long-time partner Joko Winterscheidt, he has caused a sensation on ProSieben with programmes such as "Zirkus Halligalli" and "Joko gegen Klaas". He also knows how to entertain the audience in Zurich, his punchlines are spot on. "I have to be careful not to talk too much," he says in his blunt manner, "because if you overdo it here, you pay 6000 francs a minute. 6000! Or as you would say here in Zurich: a cappuccino". It worked, the audience is delighted. In a relaxed talk round with a sofa, Klaas chatted with his guests - the station managers of ProSieben, Puls8 and Sat1. On the side, they also discuss the station's new programmes.
"Get the fuck out of my house" is supposed to be a kind of next-generation Big Brother: 100 people are crammed into a 100 square metre house. The principle is simple: whoever can hold out the longest wins 100,000 euros. That's it! This show will be shown on ProSieben. The next season of "The Big Bang Theory" is just as imminent as the spin-off "Young Sheldon".
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Klaas hasn't had enough yet. He talks vividly about how he sat down with his station manager and pondered for a long time about what he could do for ProSieben and what the station actually needed. The answer: a successful programme. The audience laughs, Klaas carries on. Based on this ingenious conclusion, the decision was made to create a successful programme for the next year. So Klaas and Prosieben. The programme should also be very successful. We get it, but can't help but giggle at Klaas' infectious mischief. In the end, all we know is that the new show is coming in 2018. And that it will be very successful.
But now it's time to end the German celebrity's successful performance with a final bang. He invites "another lady" onto the stage (again, we smile because at this point - apart from the ProSieben station manager - there is no lady sitting on the sofa). Andrea Hämmerli, responsible for Puls8, proudly and exclusively announces on the screen that the format will finally be brought to Switzerland with the next top models: "Switzerland's next Topmodel". Huge applause, especially from the female fans. What will change in Switzerland compared to its German counterpart: There will not only be a group of female models, but also one with male models. Wow!
Third block: The curtain closes
I feel a little sorry for those who are still on stage. Because after the highlight with Klaas, everything that follows seems like a nice touch. The feeling is reinforced by the fact that the programme managers don't really have much new to tell us. Show and dance interludes take over to get the booked time down. Real content is on the wane. If you get the feeling while reading that the third and final part feels abbreviated - well, that was my impression too.
First of all, Teleclub celebrates a premiere. The broadcaster is taking part in the screen-up for the first time this year and shows in a stylish trailer that it will continue to broadcast sports from the UEFA Champions League and national ice hockey matches, in some cases even exclusively.
The 3 Plus Group is relying more on the cheap scam with lots of bare skin. Channel boss Dominik Kaiser fills the stage with candidates from the mass casting for the "Miss Switzerland competition", which is being broadcast for the first time on 3+. It's quite nice to watch, but unfortunately the content of the interviews varies somewhere between unintentionally funny and flat. To kill a little more time, former Bachelor Janosch Nietlispach is allowed to hand out roses to the Misses candidates one last time before he is replaced by his successor Joel Herger in the new season of "The Bachelor".
The comedy duo Unterbüsser will conclude the screenings with the new SRG programmes. Viewers can look forward to "Generalstreik 1918", an elaborately produced documentary fiction à la "Gotthard". Sports fans can also look forward to "Morgen sind wir Champions". an exciting documentary series that follows some young football talents on their way to their first professional contract - including all the stumbling blocks and strokes of fate that are part and parcel of the merciless business. Another season of Switzerland's most famous "Undertaker" is of course not to be missed either.
The show must go on!
The day of Swiss TV is officially over. We celebrate in style at a mini street food festival and, to our pleasant surprise, the singer Samu Haber gives us goosebumps at an atmospheric unplugged concert.
Now there is one more question to answer: does live TV still have a future? Unsurprisingly, the people in charge, who took the stage after Bertrand Jungo and Alexander Duphorn, are just as optimistic as the two organisers before them. As if streaming services such as Netflix or DAZN played absolutely no role in the highly competitive ratings market. I realise that Screen-up offered a lot of show - but also a lot of pretence. Just like real television. The constant self-congratulation was annoying and sapped my patience.
However, my answer to the question posed would be "no, not yet". The broadcasters are increasingly focussing on in-house productions, as this gives them unique selling points that cannot easily migrate to streaming TV. They are trying to hold their own against the concentrated power of dozens of US series and films on demand. I think that can definitely work. What do you think? How often do you still watch live TV? What are your favourite shows? Let me know in the comments!
Source images: screen-up.ch/#movie
I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.»