Reduction of radio and TV fees – initiative committee submits 200 francs initiative – News

  • The initiative to reduce radio and TV fees was submitted on Thursday.
  • The initiative, which is intended to reduce Serafe fees from 335 to 200 francs, is therefore likely to be put to the vote.
  • After the “No Billag” initiative, it is the second referendum directed against the SRG fees. Opponents speak of an attack on democracy.

The initiative committee submitted more than 128,000 signatures to the Federal Chancellery. This was announced by the committee around the Zurich SVP National Councilor Thomas Matter.

Legend:

The initiative was submitted to the Federal Chancellery with more than 128,000 signatures. Now the signature sheets are checked.

KEYSTONE/Peter Schneiderdt

The initiators argue that Switzerland has the world’s highest device-independent fees. Employers and traders would be asked to pay twice. In addition, the range of media and the media use of the population have changed significantly. The SRG should limit itself to the core task of basic service and “reduce the monopoly-like position of the SRG” – so that more market can be established in the media sector.

The SRG initiative was launched by the SVP, the Swiss Trade Association (SGV) and the Young Liberals. In addition to representatives of the SVP, the committee also includes exponents of Freisinn, EDU, Lega and an old national councillor.

Opponents: “Bleeding” from radio and television

Broad resistance has formed against the SRG initiative. At the forefront is the Alliance Pro Media Diversity, which according to its own information currently has around 1,500 members and represents organizations such as Suisseculture, among others.

In a statement on Thursday, Allianz writes that accepting the initiative would result in “Swiss radio and television bleeding out”. Communicating background information, culture and entertainment from all four language regions is central to Switzerland’s cohesion. Operation Libero and the Greens were also announced on Thursday. Both see the initiative as an attack on the media and thus as an “attack on democracy”.

That’s what the SRG says


open box
close the box

The SRG accepts the submission of signatures for the initiative “200 francs are enough!” note.

This initiative is radical: SRG could no longer be financed in its current decentralized structure with a halved budget. The consequence would be a centralization in one main production location and a strong reduction in all regions – especially to the detriment of regional reporting, the linguistic minorities and the peripheral regions of our country.

Such a massive dismantling of the SRG would be a heavy blow for Switzerland as a media location, for the Swiss film, music, culture and sports industries and for the audience, which would lose popular programs. The diverse Switzerland would no longer be shown.

Five years after the “No Billag” initiative, which was rejected by Swiss voters by more than 70 percent, SRG is ready to once again prove its contribution to society. We will do this with determination, demonstrating our added value to society.

The 200-franc initiative is the second referendum directed against the SRG fees. These are now billed by the Serafe collection agency. Billag had previously been responsible. In March 2018, voters rejected the “No Billag” initiative with 71.6 percent. The aim was to abolish the fees altogether. On the other hand, the electorate in February 2022 rejected the media package with 55 percent. It would have provided additional funding for different types of media.

source site-72