Swiss television must show weather images free of charge

The conditions imposed by the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom) are tough: no more advertising is to be shown on Swiss television's weather channel. At present, live pictures and advertisements from tourist stations are still shown every morning, bringing in around a quarter of a million francs a year for Swiss television. According to a report in the Sonntagszeitung, Bakom, which is conducting proceedings against SF for surreptitious advertising, is now demanding a radical change. The advertising messages must disappear completely and the political news must be removed. Tourism organizations that finance the programme should be named as sponsors. The channel must also be opened up to image providers who do not pay and the selection of images must be based on journalistic criteria.
The Sonntagszeitung concludes that this could mean the end of the weather picture business for Swiss television. This is because, as the sponsors' images can no longer be broadcast automatically and exclusively, the incentive for tourism stations to place such advertising is likely to drop significantly.