This week, Switzerland’s Federal Council decided to cut CHF 35 off the compulsory annual fee households must pay for public television and radio. The fee will fall from CHF 335 to CHF 300 by 2029, reported RTS.
The fee reduction will happen gradually, falling to CHF 312 in 2027 and then to CHF 300 in 2029. In addition, more companies will fall outside the criterion for paying the fee. The minimum annual turnover for qualifying will rise from CHF 500,000 to CHF 1.2 million. This will mean that around 80% of VAT registered companies will not need to pay.
The Federal Council hopes that the gradual licence fee reduction will give the public broadcaster time to implement savings measures.
SRG/SSR, Switzerland’s public broadcaster, currently receives CHF 1.3 billion annually. By 2029, it would receive around CHF 1.2 billion according to the Federal Council.
However, according to SRG/SSR the cut will reduce revenue by CHF 240 million rather than the CHF 120 million forecast by the Federal Council. It says that this will affect sports coverage at major events and the number of Swiss films and television series supported by the broadcaster. It also forecasts the axing of 900 jobs.
The Federal Council’s cut is a response to an initiative put forward by politicians, mainly from the UDC/SVP, to cut the licence fee to CHF 200 a year and remove the levy from all companies. It believes that the initiative goes too far and such a cut would have serious consequences for the broadcaster, compromising its capacity to serve all of Switzerland’s linguistic regions. The reduced public service offering would have a negative impact on the economy, culture and society, argues the Federal Council. It has therefore also called on parliament to reject the initiative.
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RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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