CNN to launch first Swiss channel in English

The new channel will be available, both via cable and web, in the second half of 2017. Keystone

The new channel, CNNMoney Switzerland, is being launched by CNN International Commercial and partner MediaGo and will be available in the second half of 2017. It will be the first nationwide TV channel dedicated to business news for and about Switzerland.

According to a CNN and MediaGo press statement released Sunday, the channel will be dedicated to business and economics news, which will be produced at two CNNMoneyExternal link offices in Zurich and Geneva.

In addition to current affairs in the world of business and Swiss companies, the English-language channel’s operators plan to extend coverage to include sport, weather, culture and leisure.

CNN International Commercial has already established CNN-branded local channels several countries, and CNNMoney began expanding internationally in 2016 with multiplatform programming and an app. But the Swiss channel will be CNNMoney’s first standalone national platform.

“CEOs and CMOs of the leading Swiss multinational companies and the 50 world leading NGO and sports organisations are looking for a way to engage in an English speaking national platform. CNNMoney Switzerland will be their partner inside and outside Switzerland,” MediaGoExternal link CEO Christophe Rasch said in a press statement on Sunday.

In a separate statement to Swiss newspaper LeMatin Dimanche, Rasch said Switzerland was an “ideal” location for a CNNMoney channel due to the nation’s high concentration of multinationals, international and sporting organisations, and institutes of higher education.

Domestic content about Swiss businesses will be supplemented by international news relevant to Switzerland, the CNN press release said. The channel will be accessible by cable and IPTV (internet/web-based TV). Latest news concerning Switzerland and international CNNMoney content will also be accessible on a dedicated CNNMoney website, as well as social networks.