SRG cuts 50 jobs

Swiss Television (SF) will have to operate with around eleven million francs less annually from 2009. This will lead to a reduction of 50 jobs, as SF announced on Friday. Employees of the TV Production Center Zurich (TPC) are also affected. The job cuts will be achieved through natural fluctuation, retirements and, if necessary, a hiring freeze, according to a communiqué. However, individual redundancies cannot be avoided over the next three years. It is not yet clear which positions will be affected. However, the development of personnel and programming depends on numerous other factors: SRG is affected by the media policy decisions in the new RTVA. For example, the restrictions on commercial income and new tasks such as subtitling, sign language and audio description, which will lead to additional financial expenditure. Added to this are higher costs for sports and film rights, new technology and strategic investments. SRG must also try to assert itself against the competition for expiring sports contracts in the areas of football and ice hockey. The cost-cutting measures also have an impact on the programming strategy. Primarily, investments in programs outside of prime time are to be reduced. Television in French-speaking Switzerland (TSR) is also affected. The new RTVG alone means that it will have to save CHF 8.3 million by January 2007, reports the news agency SDA. This means that around 40 jobs will have to be cut. As with SF, individual redundancies are also to be expected at TSR. Some non-primetime programs are already to be cut this summer. The cost-cutting measures are the result of a decision taken by the SRG Board of Directors in June 2005, which envisages savings of CHF 82 million over the period 2006-2010.