Swiss voters reject populist bid to cut licence fee for public broadcaster SRG SSR
SRG SSR’s headquarters in Bern
Switzerland has voted decisively against a proposal to drastically cut the radio and TV licence fee that finances public service broadcaster SRG SSR.
The referendum, held yesterday, proposed to cut household fees from CHF335 (US$429) to CHF200 per year and eliminate business contributions, which would have almost halved the pubcaster’s budget and resulted in a major restructure and sweeping cuts.
However, the proposal was defeated in Sunday’s referendum, gaining only 38% support, with 62% voting to keep the licence fee at the current level ahead of its planned reduction to CHF300 by 2029.
The campaign to halve SRG SSR’s budget was backed by right-wing political parties including the populist Swiss People’s Party, while a rival cross-party group called Pro Media Diversity called for SRG SSR’s funding to be maintained.
Dubbed the ‘200 francs should be enough’ referendum, the vote came after Swiss voters overwhelmingly rejected the opportunity to scrap the licence fee entirely in 2018, when 71% of the nearly three million voters opted against the abolition of radio and TV fees.
There had been optimism at the pubcaster that the Swiss public would again vote against the plan and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which put forward its argument for the Swiss public to vote ‘no’ ahead of the vote last week, welcomed the news.
EBU director general Noel Curran said: “We are delighted that the Swiss voting public has given such a clear and decisive endorsement of public media in Switzerland. Adequately funded public service media contributes to higher levels of public trust in news and information and is closely linked to more resilient democratic systems, better able to withstand polarisation and disinformation.
“This vote sends a clear message: trusted and independent sources of information must be protected – especially now, when they are needed most.”
SRG SSR incorporates four pubcasters: Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) for German Switzerland; Radio télévision suisse (RTS) for French Switzerland; Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana (RSI) for Italian Switzerland; and Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha (RTR) for Romansh speakers.
Curran added: “Swiss voters have recognised that SRG SSR must be equipped with the resources necessary to provide content and services that are regionally rooted, relevant to people’s lives and serve all communities.”
“At a time when global digital platforms are reshaping the media environment, our members must continue to invest in innovation and transformation. Meeting these challenges – particularly in countries with multiple linguistic regions such as Switzerland – while maintaining universal access to trusted content, requires funding that is adequate, sustainable and aligned with the full breadth of the public service mission.”
The licence fee vote was one of four national issues the Swiss people voted on at the weekend, alongside referendums relating to cash, a climate fund and individual taxation.
