Residents of Upper Valais Express Shock Over State Council Member

 As part of the consultation process for television license applications in Valais, the State Council has come out in favor of Canal 9 and against the Valais Wallis TV project (see ). The Upper Valais project involves the Walliser Bote, the Rhone Zeitung, Radio Rottu, the Swiss University of Applied Sciences in Brig, and Valaiscom, which currently operates Tele Oberwallis. In a press release, Tele Oberwallis expressed its displeasure with the State Council’s decision. Once again, the State Council has disregarded the concerns of Upper Valais, and once again, Upper Valais is to be dominated by Lower Valais.It is incomprehensible that the project has not found favor with the State Council—with one French-language and one German-language program, both broadcast throughout the canton, the project would do justice to diversity, culture, and languages, the statement continues.
According to Canal 9’s license application, Tele Oberwallis is to receive a 10-minute time slot within a French-language program from the Lower Valais region, Monday through Friday. Currently, Tele Oberwallis broadcasts a 30-minute program, including an information channel, seven days a week. The State Council thus intends to scale back Upper Valais regional television and shut down the information channel.
For the organizers of the Valais Wallis TV project, it is clear that this decision cannot be accepted as is.