No-Billag supporters are ahead - 57 percent would say yes today

As of today, the No Billag initiative would be accepted. This is the result of a survey conducted by the market research company Marketagent.com - also responsible for the Impact Check of Werbewoche - and published by SonntagsZeitung.

According to the survey, 57 percent would agree to the abolition of TV and radio license fees at the current time. Only 34 percent are against and 8 percent are still undecided.

It is clear that the argument that acceptance of the initiative would mean the end of SRG does not seem to hold water - 60 percent of respondents do not believe this. 46 percent assume that large national and independent radio and television stations would still be offered even after the initiative is adopted. Apparently, many voters assume that not much would change - apart from the Billag bill being eliminated.

This attitude probably also explains how another result of the survey can be possible: Just under 55 percent of respondents are fully or mostly satisfied with SRF's offerings. Only 33 percent are completely or partially dissatisfied.

The reason given for the 57 percent in favor is that the opponents of the initiative were "caught off guard" by the early campaign in favor and that the entire counter-campaign has so far been left to the SRG. The SRG's efforts are seen by critics as rather counterproductive.

When the counter-campaign is launched - which is not planned until the new year - the lead usually melts away. From this point of view, it is rather small at 57 percent at this early stage.

Kaiser would invest even more in fiction

Nevertheless, an acceptance is also seen as a realistic scenario in many places. For example, 3+ station boss Dominik Kaiser can well imagine the end of SRG - and would be prepared to step into the breach in individual areas.

They would be "even quicker to invest even more money in additional Swiss programming content," he tells Schweiz am Wochenende. Namely, in "serial fiction and further entertainment formats". Kaiser justifies the lack of interest in SRF's successful formats such as "Reporter," "Dok" and "Arena" by saying that the station has positioned itself as an entertainment station for a young audience.

But Kaiser is investing in fiction production anyway. The one in the advertising week announced plan to produce its own series will be put into action in 2018 - regardless of the outcome of the No Billag initiative. In the fall, a crime series is to be launched in which a pair of investigators solves cases in the mountains.

The SRG critic thus wants to compete with SRF for the crime evening. SRF successfully manages this area with the audience hit "Der Bestatter" and more recently with "Wilder. (hae)