The popular initiative ‘200 francs is enough’ endangers the Swiss cultural landscape. Halving the radio and TV fee and reducing copyright royalties as a result would massively reduce the income of creative artists in all fields.

In March 2026, the people will vote on the popular initiative “200 francs is enough” (SRG SSR halving initiative). The initiative is seeking to reduce the radio and TV fee from CHF 335 to CHF 200. Moreover, undertakings would be released from the obligation to pay the corporate fee. The initiative will be put to the vote without a counterproposal.

Independently of the halving initiative, however, the Federal Council has decided to lower the radio and TV fee for private households to CHF 300. The reduction would be staggered from 2027 to 2029. Moreover, in 2027, about 80% of the undertakings subject to VAT would be released from the obligation to pay the fee.

The SRG SSR is already implementing a cost savings plan. By 2029, savings should total CHF 270m or 17% of its current financial framework. Certain programmes, including Radio SRF 2’s «Wissenschaftsmagazin», «Gesichter und Geschichten», «Vivants» and «Nuovo», have already been scrapped. If the halving initiative is accepted, we can expect a further weakening of the media Service Public and additional cutbacks in SRG SSR programme services. The SRG SSR produces content which other providers cannot finance: films like “Zwingli”, series like “Tschugger”, multifarious documentaries, and cultural and news broadcasts. SRG SSR is also a reliable partner for the promotion of Swiss music-making – from folk music to classical music, from jazz to rock music. Relying on the “Charta of Swiss Music”, the SRG SSR is committed to broadcasting an appropriate share of Swiss music productions on its radio stations. The proportion of Swiss music broadcast on most SRG SSR radio stations in 2024 was between 20% and 45% (see 2024_Anteil Schweizer Musik in Radiosendungen der SRG_DE). By comparison, private broadcasters devote little or no space to domestic music creation (see 2024_Anteil Schweizer Musik in Sendungen der Privatradios_DE).

Any further cuts in the radio and TV fee would have dire consequences on the Swiss cultural scene. Royalty revenues from copyrights and related rights especially would suffer a steep decline. The local cultural scene, especially films and music in all genres, would be deprived of their foundation. And this but a few years after the initiative ‘Yes to the abolition of radio and television licence fees (No-Billag initiative)’ was rejected by a clear popular verdict in March 2018, with 71.6% of all voters and all the cantons voting against it. Even at the time, the Swiss cultural scene took a clear stand against the plans to cut SRG SSR funding and the impact such cuts would have on Switzerland's cultural landscape, see:

·          DJ Antoine, Baschi and Stefanie Heinzmann among 5000 creative artists against the No Billag initiative (5000 Kulturschaffende bekämpfen No-Billag - Blick)

·          Artists mobilise against the No Billag initiative (Künstler machen mobil gegen No-Billag-Initiative | NZZ)

Swisscopyright is calling for rejection of the halving initiative. The group of five Swiss collective management organisations – ProLitteris, SSA, SUISA, Suissimage and SWISSPERFORM – believe that before fee levels can be discussed, clarity must be achieved with regard to the SRG SSR mandate, licence, and the Service Public:

1.       Fee reductions, including that decreed by the Federal Council, should not be implemented unless the media Service Public and, therefore, the SRG SSR mandate, have been defined. Because demanding a reduction in fees and thereby seeking to limit the SRG SSR's remit raises questions about the content of the SRG SSR licence from 2029 onwards. Article 68a(1)(a) of the Federal Act on Radio and Televsion (RTVA) provides that the decisive factor in determining the amount of the fee is the need inter alia to finance SRG SSR programme services and its other journalistic services required to fulfil the programme service mandate.

2.       In June 2024, the Federal Council announced that it intended to strengthen the focus of the SRG SSR mandate on information, education and culture. The Service Public and, above all, the mandate to promote cultural creativity should be presented more clearly, in a way intelligible to the general public.  The Federal Council has the authority to decide the amount of the fees. If it wishes to exercise this right responsibly and sustainably, before discussing the radio and TV fee levels under the renewed SRG SSR licence, the Federal Council should outline how the SRG SSR offering of cultural content is to be strengthened so that fee payers know what they are getting in return.

Swisscopyright Commentaries
(only in German and French)

 „Abgabe für Radio und Fernsehen: Es braucht Klarheit über das Mandat der SRG und den Service Public“

Session Letter 2403: „Radio- und TV-Gebühren: Zuerst muss der Auftrag der SRG geklärt werden“
Session Letter 2401: „Volksinitiative „200 Franken sind genug!“ und der Vorschlag des Bundesrates“
Session Letter 2304: „Radio- und TV-Verordnung: Kultur muss gestärkt werden“
Sessions Letter 1904: „Parlamentarische Initiative 18.405, Nationalrat Gregor Rutz – Taten statt Worte, Abgabe für Radio und Fernsehen für Unternehmen streichen“
Sessionsbrief 1704: „NEIN zu «No Billag» – JA zur Schweizer Kultur“
Sessionsbrief 1703: „Service Public – Gute Rahmenbedingungen für Schweizer Kulturschaffen“
Sessionsbrief 1702: „Ein starker Service public für das Schweizer Kulturschaffen – NEIN zur Mo. 17.3010 «Reduktion bei den Spartensendern im Radiobereich»“

 

Further information
Allianz Pro Medienvielfalt (alliance for media diversity)

Message of the Federal Council: BBl 2024 1720 - Botschaft zur Volksinitiative «200 Franken sind genug! (SRG Initiative)» | Fedlex

 

Motions