To the point: Bye-bye Billag
Billag has been under fire for quite some time. First it was about the Billag spot on television, which triggered the bashing in the tabloid press. It was very expensive (1.5 million Swiss francs) and bad. Viewers would only be frightened and would have to pay for the whole nonsense.
Billag has been under fire for quite some time. First it was about the Billag spot on television, which triggered the bashing in the tabloid press. It was very expensive (1.5 million Swiss francs) and bad. Viewers would only be frightened and would have to pay for the whole nonsense.
Then Aktion Medienfreiheit jumped on the Billag-bashing bandwagon and said in a press release that Swiss fee payers are justifiably complaining more and more about the immensely high compulsory fees for radio and television. The situation is particularly annoying because no one knows exactly where the fee money goes, it continues. For example, it is not clear what Billag needs over 55 million francs per year for. Since the Swisscom or Accarda subsidiary does not publish its accounts, it is unknown how the individual expense items are presented in the annual financial statements, what profit Billag reports and how many employees the company has.
A community of over 29,000 people has formed on the Internet site Facebook under the title "Bye-Bye Billag" to abolish it. A popular initiative of the same name is being prepared.
There was more or less silence for two months, then price supervisor Stefan Meierhans and consumer advocate Simonetta Sommaruga jumped on the bashing bandwagon. Both no longer see any justification for a separate company that collects reception fees on behalf of the federal government. The Foundation for Consumer Protection (SKS) has sent the relevant committee of the National Council a paper calling for the abolition of Billag. The 55 million francs Billag receives from the federal government for collecting the fees should be used for fee reductions, Meierhans said in an interview with the Sonntagszeitung.
Billag, of course, is defending itself against accusations of squandering taxpayers' money. The company won its mandate twice in a competitive process in 1999 and 2006, Billag spokesman Jonny Kopp told SDA. Meanwhile, the Federal Council no longer rules out a change in the collection system for radio and television fees.
Media Minister Moritz Leuenberger now told the National Council that the 9,800 SRG employees would not have to pay a Billag bill. Cost point 2.3 million per year.
It's clear that our media minister's statement adds fuel to the fire. Or was it even intentional? We are curious.
Pierre C. Meier, Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
Then Aktion Medienfreiheit jumped on the Billag-bashing bandwagon and said in a press release that Swiss fee payers are justifiably complaining more and more about the immensely high compulsory fees for radio and television. The situation is particularly annoying because no one knows exactly where the fee money goes, it continues. For example, it is not clear what Billag needs over 55 million francs per year for. Since the Swisscom or Accarda subsidiary does not publish its accounts, it is unknown how the individual expense items are presented in the annual financial statements, what profit Billag reports and how many employees the company has.
A community of over 29,000 people has formed on the Internet site Facebook under the title "Bye-Bye Billag" to abolish it. A popular initiative of the same name is being prepared.
There was more or less silence for two months, then price supervisor Stefan Meierhans and consumer advocate Simonetta Sommaruga jumped on the bashing bandwagon. Both no longer see any justification for a separate company that collects reception fees on behalf of the federal government. The Foundation for Consumer Protection (SKS) has sent the relevant committee of the National Council a paper calling for the abolition of Billag. The 55 million francs Billag receives from the federal government for collecting the fees should be used for fee reductions, Meierhans said in an interview with the Sonntagszeitung.
Billag, of course, is defending itself against accusations of squandering taxpayers' money. The company won its mandate twice in a competitive process in 1999 and 2006, Billag spokesman Jonny Kopp told SDA. Meanwhile, the Federal Council no longer rules out a change in the collection system for radio and television fees.
Media Minister Moritz Leuenberger now told the National Council that the 9,800 SRG employees would not have to pay a Billag bill. Cost point 2.3 million per year.
It's clear that our media minister's statement adds fuel to the fire. Or was it even intentional? We are curious.
Pierre C. Meier, Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
