RTVV: Swiss Press Association criticizes restrictions

The Swiss Press Association has now also commented on the draft of the new Radio and Television Ordinance (RTVO). The content of the current draft is to be welcomed in principle. The draft further implements the liberalization of advertising regulations for private broadcasters as stipulated in the law, but still contains unnecessary restrictions that take insufficient account of changes in the market and usage. The association sees the "relatively tight restrictions on SRG's commercial activities" as positive, as these counteract the dominance of the fee-financed media company over the private sector.
Furthermore, Schweizer Presse criticizes that individual provisions of the draft are primarily geared towards the television sector. This would result in unclear or inappropriate regulations for the radio sector. The association also criticizes the obligation to report shareholdings, which is to apply to private broadcasters. The regulations are "disproportionate" and have "no basis in the revised RTVA".
Similar to the electronic media interest group IGEM (see
RTVV: IGEM against paternalism and advertising bans), the Association of Advertising and Communication Agencies in Switzerland (BSW) also speaks out against unnecessary restrictions. In a statement, the BSW speaks of the danger of over-regulation and warns against trying to protect the public from advertising through ever more restrictions and bans.