TV broadcast of the Swiss Music Awards suffers ratings slump
In 2019, the Swiss Music Awards (SMA) were held in Lucerne for the first time. The show, at which the Swiss music industry honors its biggest stars and most promising newcomers, took place at the KKL and featured several new elements this year.
Only 113,000 viewers watched the awards ceremony last Saturday. This corresponds to a market share of 6.8 percent. A marked drop in ratings, as the Switzerland at the weekend shows in its current edition: Since 2015, ratings have ranged between 174,000 (market share: 10.1 percent) and 223,000 viewers (market share: 14.3 percent).
SRF is looking for the reasons for the weak performance in its own house. For example, the anniversary show of the emigrant program "Auf und davon," which was broadcast simultaneously on SRF 1, reached a respectable 724,000 viewers, which corresponds to a market share of 46 percent - a strong figure.
Although SRF is generally satisfied with the broadcast of the SMA, it still sees "optimization potential and opportunities for further development," as it admits to the newspaper. The show, which cost around 600,000 Swiss francs, is to be broadcast again next year - a detailed debriefing will show what could be done better.
The Switzerland at the weekend already lists "construction sites" that could be improved. Instead of a "self-promoter" like Stefan Büsser, for example, a presenter who is connected to the music scene is called for. The awards in the individual categories are too lengthy, the live acts too little surprising and too international.
The rules were also criticized. For example, the most successful Swiss musician by far, Trauffer, was left empty-handed - as was the most successful song by far ("079" by Lo & Leduc).
In the run-up to the Swiss Music Awards, by the way, German media were astonished to discover that the artist Loredana was not even nominated. The rapper from Emmenbrücke is one of last year's absolute breakthroughs and enjoys broad support in the German hip-hop world. Her song "Sonnenbrille," for example, has 41 million views on YouTube, while "Bonnie & Clyde" has over 38 million. As the Vice music portal Noisey experiencedThe domestic sales figures still count first and foremost for the SMAs. The gigantic streaming figures and great popularity beyond the border have no influence on the consideration.
