The amateurs come away empty-handed

 
Private TV The small amateur stations provided a splash of color in the local TV landscape. Now they are the big losers of the new fee splitting. 
 From ambitious political talk shows with local heroes to sports coverage from the lower leagues and bizarre public reports about the fashion show in the village boutique: the smallest of the local TV stations bring a bit of homegrown variety to the stylish landscape of private TV stations. However, the new Radio and Television Act now threatens these niches. It only provides for shares from fee splitting for 13 large local stations, which are allocated a fixed broadcasting area.
"Fewer licensed channels, but larger coverage areas for more professional TV stations," is how Alfred Hostettler from the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) describes the principle according to which 13 licences are currently being put out to tender. This "system change" favors the large local private broadcasters. Accordingly, the hotly contested Zurich-North-Eastern Switzerland broadcasting area, in which TeleZüri, Tele Top, Schaffhauer Fernsehen and other interested parties are active, has become an ongoing topic.
Too little professionalismThe mini-broadcasters in rural areas are at a disadvantage. They have benefited from fee splitting since 1995, albeit in a modest form. In recent years, between CHF 5 and 6.5 million has been available in each case, which has been distributed among more than 20 micro-broadcasters. The lion's share went to western and southern Switzerland, where some of the previous recipients such as Tele Ticino, Tele Bielingue and Tele Südostschweiz will continue to receive money under the new fee regime. In German-speaking Switzerland, on the other hand, some small stations will go away empty-handed. Although they have done pioneering work, they are not large enough and not professionally supported enough to apply for one of the new license areas.
No daily newsOne of these stations is Tele D, which went on air over 20 years ago as the local television station Diessenhofen and can now be received in large parts of the cantons of Thurgau and Schaffhausen. It is run by a prominent foundation and financially supported by many municipalities in Thurgau. Around 40 people produce several hours of programming per week on a voluntary and unpaid basis. Tele D does not broadcast daily news or advertising.
In recent years, Tele D has received around CHF 50,000 from fee splitting. From 2008, this income will cease. "We have to stretch ourselves to the ceiling," says Peter Schuppli, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Managing Director of Tele D. The financial gap is now to be plugged with a "Club of Friends of Tele D". Schuppli expects that local companies and the population will continue to support the station. Although viewing figures are not measured, he is aware of the attention his station receives. "The response to some programs is huge," he says.
Giving up is out of the questionEven elsewhere in the amateur league of television production, people are used to finding creative solutions to finance tight budgets. The Arolfingen local television station ALF, which broadcasts in western Aargau and the canton of Solothurn, received around CHF 30,000 from the license fee fund, which will no longer be available from 2008.
Loly, the local television station in Lyss, will also be missing out on almost CHF 40,000 from fee splitting from 2008. Around 30 people, most of whom work on a voluntary basis, have been producing one hour of programming per week for twelve years for a catchment area of just 30,000 inhabitants. They have given up the paid editor-in-chief position and organized themselves with a new editorial concept so that they can continue to be in the black, explains Marianne Batos, co-president of the sponsoring association.
The small broadcasters will all continue without fee splitting. After all, the new Radio and Television Act offers them one advantage: those who waive their share of fees can broadcast wherever and however they want. Instead of applying for a license, all you have to do is register with OFCOM. It is quite possible that sooner or later more hobby broadcasters will spring up.
Behind closed doors, criticism is also heard here and there: based on their experience, some local television producers doubt whether the local public service envisaged by Bakom can really be provided by the future licensed broadcasters with fee splitting. The broadcasting areas are so large that the planned fee contributions of between CHF 1.4 and 3.2 million per broadcaster appear to be too low.
Adrian Scherrer

 

Coveted coverage area For the Zurich-Northwestern Switzerland coverage area,
which covers the cantons of Zurich, Schaffhausen and Thurgau with a total population of 1.6 million, several interested parties are bidding: Tele Top, which currently covers Winterthur and Frauenfeld as well as Schaffhausen and St. Gallen, and the Tamedia station TeleZüri. It was recently announced,
that the mayor of Rapperswil and a St. Gallen cantonal councillor are fighting for TeleZüri to remain available in the Linth region, which is more strongly oriented towards Zurich. The redistribution of the license areas, ordered by the federal government this summer, no longer provides for this for Glarus, Schwyz and the Linth region. The redistribution
also has consequences for other license applicants. Tele Südostschweiz, for example, has left a joint interest group consisting of the Glatttal local broadcaster Züri Plus, Schaffhauser Fernsehen, Ringier and IP Multimedia. Südostschweiz publisher Hanspeter Lebrument explains that they will no longer enter into this concession. His station is concentrating on the area of Südostschweiz and Glarus. "That means we have our hands full," says Lebrument. (rw)