Federal Council drops target group-specific advertising
Radio and television advertising aimed at specific target groups should also be banned in future. Following fierce criticism, the Federal Council has dropped its plans. Target group-specific advertising was intended to compensate for falling advertising revenue.
For example, the advertising would have been aimed specifically at groups of people with common interests or at target groups according to demographic criteria. Publishers had strongly opposed this. The National Council committee also spoke out against it in the consultation. The form of advertising was rejected by the majority in the consultation on the revision of the Radio and Television Ordinance (RTVO), writes the Federal Council in a statement on Wednesday. It is therefore abandoning its original proposal to allow target group-specific advertising for licensed broadcasters.
Money for news agency
The new legal basis, which allows the federal government to support news agencies, was also criticized. Despite this, the Federal Council spoke out in favor of the amendment to the ordinance. The aim is to provide local and regional radio and TV stations with reliable news. According to the Federal Council, small media companies such as levy-financed local radio stations and regional television are dependent on reliable services at affordable prices in order to obtain information. The Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) can therefore conclude a service agreement with a national agency such as Keystone-SDA in future. Up to two million Swiss francs from the reception fee for radio and television will be available annually for this purpose.
Keystone-SDA is currently the only national news agency. Support will initially be provided for two years from 2019. After that, the service agreement could be renewed. This regime may be replaced by the new Media Act. This will provide a legal basis for supporting non-profit news agencies. (SDA)
