Ticino government recommends rejection of the No Billag initiative
On Wednesday, the Ticino cantonal government recommended rejecting the No-Billag initiative. It had previously met with the leadership of SRG SSR and RSI.
If the initiative were rejected nationwide but approved only in Ticino, this would pose a major threat to radio and television in Italian-speaking Switzerland (RSI). In the medium term, RSI and the region’s private broadcasters would feel the negative consequences, according to the government.
She also pointed out that, under the current model, Italian-speaking Switzerland receives more than 20 percent of the funding from the license fee pool—even though its share of the population is just four percent.
Significant but not necessarily popular
The Ticino State Council noted that public radio and television are a significant economic factor for the canton and play an important role in the cultural sphere.
On Wednesday, he had met with SRG SSR President Jean-Michel Cina, Director General Gilles Marchand, and RSI Director Maurizio Canetta in Ticino.
In the summer of 2015, Ticino voters narrowly rejected the Radio and Television Act at the polls. However, the “no” vote in Ticino was quite close at the time, with 52 percent.
As a result, the regional organization CORSI feared that the people of Ticino might end up harming themselves with their vote. It warned that the southern canton could come out on the losing end in the next round of negotiations over the formula for distributing the fee revenues.
In Ticino, the Lega is voicing strong criticism of the SRG: the Sunday newspaper known as the Lega’s mouthpiece Sunday morning She regularly launches scathing attacks against RSI. For example, she caricatured RSI Director Maurizio Canetta as the captain of the Titanic and accused the «state broadcaster» of megalomania and a left-wing bias. (SDA)
