37% of Swiss music on the radio, CHF 32.5 million for Swiss film productions, CHF 55.1 million in copyright royalties and support for more than 300 festivals: these numbers underscore just how important the SRG SSR channels are for Swiss cultural workers (Source, in German: https://publicvalue.srgssr.ch/ueber-public-value/zahlen/).
Offering a broad spectrum covering radio, television and online platforms in all four national languages, the national broadcaster SRG SSR reaches more than three million people every day. For artists in particular, this huge reach is an important stage for showcasing their work to the public at large. In the music sector alone, SRG SSR channels broadcast over 800 hours of music – from pop to rock, urban to jazz and classical concerts. Over 500 music broadcasts and 1200 music-focused contributions underscore an ongoing commitment extending far beyond the simple entertainment spectrum.
The SRG SSR commitment to Swiss cultural workers is now seriously threatened by various political initiatives.
Twelve million francs in royalties at risk
The popular initiative “SRG SSR: 200 francs is enough!”, also known as the “halving initiative” demands that household television and radio reception fees be reduced from currently CHF 335 to CHF 200. Moreover, all businesses should be exempted from paying the fee. For the SRG SSR this would entail a huge loss in revenue: from approximately CHF 1.2 billion today to CHF 650 million in future.
The initiative, if accepted, would inevitably lead to an impoverished SRG SSR offering – especially in the cultural field. Not only would many artists reach a narrower audience, they would also receive much less in royalties. If the initiative is accepted, we expect a loss of CHF 12 million per year in royalties for SUISA alone – i.e. for music authors and publishers. That corresponds to approximately 8% of SUISA’s royalty revenues in Switzerland.
The people will probably be called to vote on the initiative in 2026. This means that eight years after rejecting the 2018 “No Billag” initiative by a large majority (71.6%), the people will once more be asked to decide the future of the SRG SSR and the media Service Public.
The Federal Council wants to reduce radio and TV reception fees too
In June 2024, the Federal Council clearly spoke out against the popular initiative which it rejected. The Federal Council felt that the initiative went too far. This commitment to the SRG SSR and the Service Public is encouraging. But at the same time, the Federal Council ordered a staggered reduction of the household reception fee from the current CHF 335 to CHF 300 in 2029. Moreover, it decided to exempt even more businesses from radio and TV reception fees: as of 2027, about 80% of all businesses subject to VAT will no longer have to pay radio and TV reception fees.
Compared with the halving initiative, this decision may be the lesser of two evils. But even the lower reduction will severely affect the SRG SSR and its offering since it represents a loss of approximately CHF 120 million in household reception fees. Together with the declining trend in advertising income, this means that the SRG SSR will have to cut back both on its offerings and its staff. The reduction in fees decided by the Federal Council will also have a direct impact on musicians: SUISA estimates that the loss in revenues for authors and publishers will amount to approximately CHF 3 million.
Regardless which scenario comes to pass, the SRG SSR will have to make do with less revenue in coming years. Cost-savings and the associated cutbacks are thus inevitable.
SRG SSR has already had to implement initial measures
The SRG SSR has already started implementing the cutbacks. It recently announced a reduction in its cultural offer, cancelling programmes like “Gesichter & Geschichten”, “Vivants” and “Nuovo” in the past few months, for example.
Moreover, it reduced its programming of film and series reporting. These measures have created considerable uncertainty in cultural circles. Certain media are already speculating about the number of lay-offs in the near future.
The damage reaches far beyond the SRG SSR and the cultural sector: other businesses working for the Swiss national broadcaster as suppliers and contractors will be impacted by the cutbacks in orders and revenues. The question is whether CHF 2.90 in savings per household per month actually justify the cutbacks.
Cultural industry resists the cutbacks
As was the case with the “No Billag” initiative, cultural associations and organisations are campaigning against the popular initiative and the fee reductions imposed by the Federal Council. SUISA does so as part of Swisscopyright, the umbrella association of the five Swiss collective rights management organisations: ProLitteris, SSA, SUISA, Suissimage and Swissperform. Together with Suisseculture and other cultural associations, Swisscopyright has taken a stand against both the popular initiative and the Federal Council proposal. Moreover, the collective management organisations are making direct recommendations to Parliament on the proposed measures and seeking dialogue with political representatives.
The main demands of the collective management organisations are:
- No further weakening of the SRG SSR and Service Public. The SRG SSR is already in a tight financial situation today. In recent years, the household reception fee has been progressively reduced from CHF 490 per private household to CHF 335 today. The loss in revenue combined with declining income from TV advertising means that the Swiss national broadcasting company produces losses every year. SRG SSR reserves can probably only cover these losses until 2025. Under the circumstances, a further reduction in household reception fees does not seem timely.
- Priorities must be properly set. Apart from the reduction in reception fees, the Federal Council also decided that the new SRG SSR licence would first come into force in 2029. This means that the SRG SSR performance mandate will not be specified until after the people have voted and the staggered fee reductions have already started. Thus the price – i.e. the fee rate – will be debated and decided before the actual product – i.e. the SRG SSR mandate. So voters will not even know what they will be paying less for if the initiative is accepted. Clearly there must be a debate on the content of the SRG SSR performance mandate before the amount of the household reception fee can be decided and put to the vote.
Commitment to a strong SRG SSR and in favour of cultural workers
SUISA will continue to work with other organisations in the coming months to secure a strong cultural offering on SRG SSR channels and to oppose the forthcoming popular initiative. As in the campaign against the “No Billag” initiative, prominent creative artists will once again be needed to advocate for a strong media Service Public and for the greatest possible visibility for their work on radio and TV. After all, it is still the SRG SSR broadcasting channels that offer Swiss artists the largest showcase and provide Swiss cultural creation with the strongest support and promotion.
