Publishers and SRG: Still no agreement in the dispute over online advertising
The dispute over online advertising between publishers and SRG SSR has not yet been resolved. At a meeting earlier this week in Zurich, the two sides failed to reach a solution on the contentious issue of whether SRG will be allowed to run online ads in the future.
There are still "certain differences", said Daniel Hammer, Secretary General of the French-speaking Swiss publishers' association Médias Suisses, when asked on Wednesday. For the time being, only the formation of three working groups was agreed at the meeting. These are to deal with online advertising, online offerings and possible forms of cooperation between SRG and publishers.
An initial report from the working groups should be available in January. The parties to the dispute have until spring to submit proposals to the Federal Council. The Federal Council expects the SRG and publishers to find a solution for online advertising themselves.
The publishers' associations Schweizer Medien and Médias Suisses accuse the SRG of overstepping the boundaries of the law with its online offering and thus competing with private providers. In March of this year, they presented a legal opinion supporting their position. According to this opinion, online offerings are not part of the public service and are also not covered by the license. (SDA)
