Council of States does not want to ban SRG online advertising in principle
The Federal Council should continue to have the option of easing the ban on online advertising for the SRG after 2018. On Wednesday, the Council of States unanimously rejected a motion that sought to make the current ban permanent.
This proposal comes from the National Council’s Committee on Transport and Telecommunications (KVF) and was adopted by the lower house during the winter session. The call for a ban is linked to the Federal Council’s public service report, which is scheduled for discussion in the National Council next week. In the report, the Federal Council suggests that the ban on online advertising may eventually be relaxed under certain circumstances. The National Council commission wanted to put a stop to this even before the discussion on the report took place.
According to Media Minister Doris Leuthard, however, there is «no need for action.» The Federal Council currently has no intention of lifting the ban, not even in the new license starting in 2019. However, the issue is unlikely to be off the table for good. If advertising revenue were to dry up, the matter would have to be reconsidered, Leuthard said. Otherwise, fees would have to be raised.
The Council of States did not want to prevent the Federal Council from addressing developments in media policy. Committee spokesperson Olivier Français (FDP/VD) mentioned, among other things, the initiative to abolish Billag. If this initiative is approved, the SRG may have to find new sources of revenue.
Filippo Lombardi (CVP/TI) said that the ban is currently justified to protect private media. However, he added that the long-term goal must be to reach a joint solution with the publishers. Swiss stakeholders would be overwhelmed by foreign providers if they did not pull together. Konrad Graber (CVP/LU) warned against enacting rules in advance that might have to be changed again later under certain circumstances. (SDA)
