SRG and private companies secretly mobilize against replay TV
Behind the scenes, efforts are reportedly underway to put a stop to time-shifted television at the parliamentary level. Consumer advocate Sara Stalder is concerned about this.
How the NZZ on Sunday in its current issue, the Interessengemeinschaft Radio und Fernsehen (IRF) is currently trying to change the rules for replay TV through parliamentary channels. A member of the National Council's Telecommunications Commission intends to propose the following change next week during the consultations on the revision of the Telecommunications Act: providers of television programs should now only be allowed to retransmit them "simultaneously, unchanged and in full". Viewers should now only be provided with "functions that allow them to use the programs with a time delay with the consent of the broadcaster".
"Back to the Stone Age of media consumption"
Consumer advocate Sara Stalder warns against the plans. The fact that it is being discussed at all is abstruse and represents a step back to the Stone Age of media consumption, she says to the NZZ on Sunday. She fears a "massive increase" in prices. Consumers' statutory right to private copying of copyright-protected content would be "taken away without replacement".
Letter from TV broadcasters demands rejection of the proposal
The TV broadcasters, for whom the replay functions represent a decisive increase in customer benefit, are aware of these plans. Six of them - including Swisscom and UPC - have sent a letter to the Commission members calling on them to reject the proposal. Swisscom speaks out against the NZZ on Sunday clearly and unequivocally against the intended change in the law. According to spokesman Armin Schädeli, there are other reasons for the loss of advertising complained about by broadcasters - if they are true at all.
The IRF, which is said to be behind the initiative, waves it off. According to Managing Director Andrea Werder, it is not a question of banning replay TV - the customer-friendly function is welcomed. However, the broadcasters would demand that the TV distributors (such as Swisscom, UPC, etc.) agree the conditions for replay TV with them, as is the case in all European countries. Replay TV is responsible for a loss of income in Switzerland that threatens the existence of the broadcaster. According to Werder, broadcasters lost around CHF 100 million in 2017 - but were only compensated with CHF 8.3 million. (hae)
