Pro Sieben (Switzerland) takes a stand against SRG
The draft of the new license for SRG is currently under public consultation. Now Pro Sieben (Switzerland) has publicly weighed in on the debate, criticizing the fact that the draft calls for a doubling of the public broadcaster’s commercial offerings. SRG disagrees.
The draft of the new concession for SRG SSR is currently undergoing consultation. Pro Sieben (Switzerland) is now publicly intervening in the debate and criticizing the fact that the draft envisages a doubling of the commercial offering of the public service media company. On the one hand, the ban on advertising and sponsorship for SFinfo is to be dropped in the new concession. In addition, first broadcasts can be broadcast on SFinfo under certain circumstances. As a result, the channel will become a fully-fledged broadcaster, writes Pro Sieben (Switzerland) in a press release. On the other hand, SRG SSR will have a test channel for high-definition television (HD-TV), which will also not be subject to a ban on advertising and sponsorship. The planned HD channel is an experimental channel. However, the draft of the new license would allow SRG to produce and broadcast original programming for the HD channel. This would be tantamount to such an unwanted expansion of the journalistic offering.
Pro Sieben (Switzerland) concludes: "The web options on SFinfo and on the planned HD trial channel will allow SRG to double its commercial offering in German-speaking Switzerland in one fell swoop." This is clearly not in line with the legislator's intentions, as it was emphasized several times in the explanatory notes to the new RTVA that the advertising and sponsorship provisions applicable to SRG SSR under the old RTVA should not be further expanded, but in some cases even restricted.
In the eyes of Pro Sieben (Switzerland), the draft of the new concession would therefore lead to undesirable additional economic competition from private companies through SRG SSR. Daniel Steiner, media spokesman for SRG SSR, disagrees. In an initial statement to Werbewoche, he said: "It would be nice if we could double our offering! However, opportunities such as online publications have developed on the market where our hands are tied in terms of advertising. We therefore expect the commercial offering to decline."
Pro Sieben (Switzerland) concludes: "The web options on SFinfo and on the planned HD trial channel will allow SRG to double its commercial offering in German-speaking Switzerland in one fell swoop." This is clearly not in line with the legislator's intentions, as it was emphasized several times in the explanatory notes to the new RTVA that the advertising and sponsorship provisions applicable to SRG SSR under the old RTVA should not be further expanded, but in some cases even restricted.
In the eyes of Pro Sieben (Switzerland), the draft of the new concession would therefore lead to undesirable additional economic competition from private companies through SRG SSR. Daniel Steiner, media spokesman for SRG SSR, disagrees. In an initial statement to Werbewoche, he said: "It would be nice if we could double our offering! However, opportunities such as online publications have developed on the market where our hands are tied in terms of advertising. We therefore expect the commercial offering to decline."
