The cake is not getting any bigger
René Worni on the spin surrounding the changes brought about by the Radio and Television Ordinance and the new RTV Act.
René Worni on the fine-talking: In England, the public BBC is free of advertising, while private broadcasters are allowed to do anything. The British model is the ultimate lesson when it comes to the distinction between private and public media. Here in Germany, however, the model is no good. Financed solely by fees, there would be public radio in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino, but no public television. Too expensive. Anyone who questions this would also have to take issue with the fact that it costs the same to send a letter from Zurich to the Calanca Valley as it does to Schlieren or Wollishofen. That is nothing more than a public service.
The changes brought about by the Radio and Television Ordinance and the new RTV Act are therefore not fundamental.
The fans of certain SF entertainment programs will feel it the most. For example, when the Schoggisoap "Lüthi und Blanc" disappears from the program after 250 episodes without a follow-up series. SF could obviously launch a successor if SRG did not have to forego income from what is known internally as "prop placement" in future.
The disappearance of other programs such as the cooking show "al dente" is conceivable. The fee-paying but clueless public would certainly like to know more about the amount and significance of this income, if only to understand why their favorite show is disappearing from the program.
When the Federal Council talks about asymmetric financing of the media, wants to slow down the commercialization of programme content of national broadcasters and liberalize the regulations for private broadcasters, it borders on fine-talking. It pretends that liberalization will give private broadcasters a secure economic basis in the narrow Swiss market.
However, SRG is merely being deprived of some of its fees and advertising, and interstitial advertising and product placement are being banned. On the other hand, the cake is not getting much bigger for the private broadcasters.
René Worni
The changes brought about by the Radio and Television Ordinance and the new RTV Act are therefore not fundamental.
The fans of certain SF entertainment programs will feel it the most. For example, when the Schoggisoap "Lüthi und Blanc" disappears from the program after 250 episodes without a follow-up series. SF could obviously launch a successor if SRG did not have to forego income from what is known internally as "prop placement" in future.
The disappearance of other programs such as the cooking show "al dente" is conceivable. The fee-paying but clueless public would certainly like to know more about the amount and significance of this income, if only to understand why their favorite show is disappearing from the program.
When the Federal Council talks about asymmetric financing of the media, wants to slow down the commercialization of programme content of national broadcasters and liberalize the regulations for private broadcasters, it borders on fine-talking. It pretends that liberalization will give private broadcasters a secure economic basis in the narrow Swiss market.
However, SRG is merely being deprived of some of its fees and advertising, and interstitial advertising and product placement are being banned. On the other hand, the cake is not getting much bigger for the private broadcasters.
René Worni
