SRG: 20 million francs profit

Last year, no major sporting event on the scale of the Olympic Games or a football World Cup took place, SRG announced on Friday. Such major events would always drive up costs.
 
Personnel expenses amounted to CHF 673.9 million in 2013, compared to CHF 814 million in the previous year. Program and production expenses fell by around 11.4 million francs to 593 million francs. Overall, operating expenses amounted to CHF 1.60 billion last year.
 
Less advertising revenue
 
However, it is not only expenditure that has fallen, but also income. This was mainly due to falling advertising revenue. At CHF 348.5 million, SRG took in around CHF 11 million less from advertising in 2013.
 
SRG blames this partly on the fact that audience figures could not be published in the spring due to measurement problems. This had a significant impact on advertising revenue. Following the switch to a new measurement system for TV audience figures, publication of the figures had to be postponed last year.
 
However, the most important source of income for SRG is reception fees. Last year, SRG collected CHF 1.2 billion from these fees - around CHF 15 million more than in the previous year. This means that reception fees still account for around three quarters of revenue.
 
In total, operating income amounted to CHF 1.62 billion last year - compared to CHF 1.64 billion in the previous year.
 
Pension fund reorganized
 
SRG had still reported a deficit of CHF 117 million for 2012. Provisions for pension fund benefits amounting to CHF 160 million weighed on the accounts at the time. The majority of these provisions related to the reduction in the technical interest rate from 4 to 3.25 percent.
 
The pension fund is now positioned for the future and can react better to fluctuations on the investment markets, SRG announced. The 2013 Annual Report will be submitted to the SRG Delegates' Meeting for approval on April 25. (SDA)