Something for everyone involved
Media policy Sometimes liberal, sometimes restrictive: the Council of States was very willing to compromise during the RTVA session.
Media policy Sometimes liberal, sometimes restrictive: the Council of States was very willing to compromise during the RTVA session. No one wanted to break any big ropes. There was agreement on this in the Council of States even before the actual deliberations on the new Radio and Television Act (RTVA). From left to right, there was broad agreement on one point in particular: the strong role of the SRG as a quasi-monopolist financed by fees should not be seriously shaken, and the media campaign against SRG Director General Armin Walpen (keyword: Porsche Cayenne) had no effect whatsoever. On the contrary, the councils repeatedly cited the strong competition from foreign channels as an argument against weakening the SRG, and despite the repeated public service mantra and the cautious, conservative basic tenor, the Second Council made qualitative changes to the new RTVA. Although the legislative process has not yet been completed - differences with the National Council still need to be resolved on some points - the cornerstones are now in place.
Beer and wine on screenOne of the key changes is the lifting of the ban on advertising for light alcoholic beverages (beer, wine, sparkling wine) on the channels of private Swiss broadcasters as well as in the Swiss advertising windows of foreign broadcasters. For the SRG, however, alcohol advertising on television remains taboo. With regard to the relaxation for domestic broadcasters, the Council of States, like the National Council, followed the Federal Council's draft, while a minority motion from the pre-advisory committee narrowly prevailed in the small chamber with regard to the regulation for foreign program windows.
Regardless of the health and socio-political explosive force that the topic of alcohol advertising harbors, the debate was dominated by
In the Council of States, media policy and economic arguments were put forward. A general clause inserted by the National Council, which would have authorized the Federal Council to ban advertising to protect health and young people, did not find favour with the Council of States. In return, however, an openly worded article was approved that gives the Federal Council the authority to issue regulations on the design of advertising to protect minors. On this point, too, the Council of States followed the Federal Council's draft, which - in contrast to the National Council - wanted to ban advertising aimed at minors in general.
While the Council of States was more liberal than the Grand Chamber when it came to alcohol advertising, it put a stop to the media promotion of political and religious content, thus opposing the National Council, which wanted to allow it. Maximilian Reimann, a member of the SVP Council of States from Aargau, tried to relax the regulations at least for political advertising. He could not understand why private radio and television broadcasters should be excluded from this advertising segment. "What legal interest is protected by this? If you ban something, you also have to protect something or someone." This rhetorical question prompted Federal Councillor Moritz Leuenberger, who put forward considerations of state rather than media policy. "Advertising for politics is expensive, and opening it up would allow financially strong groups to interfere excessively in a referendum campaign," said the media minister. Maximilian Reimann's motion ultimately failed by a clear margin of 31 votes to six.
"Protection of works of art "The form of advertising was also a topic of the Council of States' RTVA debate. While the National Council only wanted to set a maximum permissible advertising time, the Council of States went one step further and set clear limits on interruption advertising. However, the Federal Council can allow deviations from these principles. In future, television advertising must "generally be inserted between individual programs and broadcast in blocks". There was no chance of interstitial advertising being approved.
Filippo Lombardi, a member of the Ticino CVP Council of States, also pointed out that in future there would be an increasing number of television reception devices on the market that could specifically block out interruption advertising and that a legal regulation would therefore be pointless. Federal Councillor Leuenberger defended the restrictive regulation: "This is about protecting works of art. Films should not be allowed to be interrupted to the point of defacement."
The ban on advertising light alcoholic beverages has been lifted on private channels - religious and political advertising, however, remain taboo.
Nick Lüthi
Beer and wine on screenOne of the key changes is the lifting of the ban on advertising for light alcoholic beverages (beer, wine, sparkling wine) on the channels of private Swiss broadcasters as well as in the Swiss advertising windows of foreign broadcasters. For the SRG, however, alcohol advertising on television remains taboo. With regard to the relaxation for domestic broadcasters, the Council of States, like the National Council, followed the Federal Council's draft, while a minority motion from the pre-advisory committee narrowly prevailed in the small chamber with regard to the regulation for foreign program windows.
Regardless of the health and socio-political explosive force that the topic of alcohol advertising harbors, the debate was dominated by
In the Council of States, media policy and economic arguments were put forward. A general clause inserted by the National Council, which would have authorized the Federal Council to ban advertising to protect health and young people, did not find favour with the Council of States. In return, however, an openly worded article was approved that gives the Federal Council the authority to issue regulations on the design of advertising to protect minors. On this point, too, the Council of States followed the Federal Council's draft, which - in contrast to the National Council - wanted to ban advertising aimed at minors in general.
While the Council of States was more liberal than the Grand Chamber when it came to alcohol advertising, it put a stop to the media promotion of political and religious content, thus opposing the National Council, which wanted to allow it. Maximilian Reimann, a member of the SVP Council of States from Aargau, tried to relax the regulations at least for political advertising. He could not understand why private radio and television broadcasters should be excluded from this advertising segment. "What legal interest is protected by this? If you ban something, you also have to protect something or someone." This rhetorical question prompted Federal Councillor Moritz Leuenberger, who put forward considerations of state rather than media policy. "Advertising for politics is expensive, and opening it up would allow financially strong groups to interfere excessively in a referendum campaign," said the media minister. Maximilian Reimann's motion ultimately failed by a clear margin of 31 votes to six.
"Protection of works of art "The form of advertising was also a topic of the Council of States' RTVA debate. While the National Council only wanted to set a maximum permissible advertising time, the Council of States went one step further and set clear limits on interruption advertising. However, the Federal Council can allow deviations from these principles. In future, television advertising must "generally be inserted between individual programs and broadcast in blocks". There was no chance of interstitial advertising being approved.
Filippo Lombardi, a member of the Ticino CVP Council of States, also pointed out that in future there would be an increasing number of television reception devices on the market that could specifically block out interruption advertising and that a legal regulation would therefore be pointless. Federal Councillor Leuenberger defended the restrictive regulation: "This is about protecting works of art. Films should not be allowed to be interrupted to the point of defacement."
The ban on advertising light alcoholic beverages has been lifted on private channels - religious and political advertising, however, remain taboo.
Nick Lüthi
