"Dilettantes": Regional radio and television also reject No Billag initiative

In addition to SRG, 21 local radio stations and 13 regional television stations that fulfill a public service mandate receive money from the fee pot. Other local radio stations also have a service mandate. For most of them, the abolition of radio and television fees would lead to the closure of broadcasting, say the associations. They warn of a clear-cutting, particularly in French-speaking Switzerland, Ticino and the mountain and peripheral regions. On average, only 50 percent of the stations are financed by advertising. Zurich is the only region that generates enough advertising revenue for purely commercial financing.

The associations therefore consider it an illusion that the loss of fees could be replaced by more advertising.

"They are dilettantes"

Advertising revenue would fall much more because SRG would now also be allowed to advertise on the radio, said Martin Muerner, Vice President of the Swiss Private Radio Association. Private radio stations without licence fees would also suffer as a result. Muerner described the initiators as dilettantes. They can only be excused insofar as they have never sold advertising for radio or TV themselves.

According to the associations, financing via customer subscriptions is also unrealistic. Nowhere in the world can information programs be financed via subscriptions, they point out. Pay TV only works for entertainment, live sport and sex, said Marc Friedli, Managing Director of Telesuisse, the Swiss regional television association.

No plan B

In the view of the associations, possible financing by the cantons instead of the federal government is "complete nonsense". Accepting the initiative would be a vote against public funding, they point out. "There is no plan B for a comprehensive regional public service," the associations conclude.

They do not accept the argument that "things used to work without fees". In the past, large publishing houses would have covered the loss and cross-financed the regional broadcasters. In today's situation, this is unthinkable, said Friedli.

Danger for federalism

Telesuisse President André Moesch sees the No Billag initiative as a threat to federalism and democracy. Reports on the St. Gallen city council elections, the Oberland Autumn Exhibition or FC Raron are not commercially interesting, but important, he said. Nor could they be replaced by "fake news media such as Facebook". The initiative is an attack on independent journalism, said Moesch.

However, he also made it clear that the alliance between the regional and local broadcasters and the SRG is only a temporary one: on March 4, the attack is to be fended off together, and from March 5, the private broadcasters want to discuss the scope of the SRG. For the associations, it is clear that SRG must be put in its place.

Redivide the cake

The regional broadcasters want a bigger slice of the cake in future: SRG should leave the regional content to the private broadcasters with a performance mandate and, for example, dispense with the regional journals. The associations are also questioning special-interest channels such as Swisspop. However, those responsible want to hold this discussion as part of the consultation process for the new SRG license. Moesch emphasized that this does not require a radical initiative that would lead to the destruction of the media system. The vote on March 4 will not be about programming or individual presenters. The livelihood of 34 broadcasters is up for debate. (SDA)