Telesuisse: Parliament must make improvements to RTVG revision
For Telesuisse, the association of Swiss regional television stations, the Federal Council’s message on the revision of the Radio and Television Act leaves key issues unresolved. Telesuisse sees a significant need for improvement, particularly in the area of licensing.
In the coming years, regional broadcasters will face major technical and content-related changes in the rapidly changing media market. They therefore need planning security in order to be able to continue to offer high-quality regional programs. Telesuisse wrote this in a press release on Thursday. Therefore, Telesuisse proposes that the licenses do not have to be put out to tender regularly, but could also be extended if a broadcaster fulfills the performance mandate and the license requirements. At the very least, the previous performance of the broadcaster must be taken into account in the new concession.
Telesuisse also advocates sufficient funding for regional television stations: The Federal Council's proposed fixing of the fee shares at a value of 3 to 5 percent would bring a sensible flexibilization, but on average no increase in contributions to the regional broadcasters. "Compared to the SRG, the regional broadcasters will thus continue to be significantly worse off, and the provision of regional public service is at risk," the association writes. And calls for the fee shares to be set at 4 to 6 percent, which would allow for a moderate increase at the discretion of the department.
Also unsatisfactory from the association's point of view is the proposal to refund to the fee payers the fee shares of almost CHF 70 million that have accumulated in recent years but have not been paid out. This money is due to the private radio and television stations and could be invested sensibly, for example in the training of journalists.
The association is also positive about other proposed amendments to the Radio and Television Act. For example, the planned subtitling of news broadcasts for the disabled, provided that the additional costs can be financed through radio and television license fees, as planned. The simplification of the licensing procedure is also to be welcomed, according to which a possible threat to the diversity of opinion and offerings no longer has to be examined in advance in an elaborate manner.
After the Federal Council had largely excluded the needs of regional broadcasters with the present dispatch, the association concluded, its concerns would now be brought to bear in the consultations on the draft law in the commissions and councils.
