The "200 francs, that's enough" initiative poses a threat to Swiss culture

The federal popular initiative "200 francs, that's enough! (SRG initiative)", launched by the Swiss People's Party (SVP), aims to reduce radio and TV licence fees from 335 to 200 francs a year. If the initiative is accepted, the corporate licence fee would be abolished altogether. The opposing party estimates that the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG) would lose almost half of its licence fee revenues. This is why the SRG initiative is also known as the "halve initiative". In 2024, the Federal Council had already taken a step in the direction of the initiators' demands. By ordinance, it decided to reduce household licence fees by up to CHF 300 per year. This poses a problem, as the Federal Councillor responsible for the media, Albert Rösti, was a member of the SRG initiative committee when he was a National Councillor. In addition, many companies will no longer have to pay licence fees in future. As a result, SRG expects to save around CHF 270 million by 2029. This corresponds to around 17 % of the current financial framework.

The SRG initiative would not only jeopardize some 2,500 full-time jobs within the company itself: a total of almost 6,300 jobs would be lost, mainly at suppliers throughout Switzerland.

Ideological reasons for halving the licence fee

Thomas Matter, SVP national councillor from Zurich and member of the initiative committee, told the "Blick" newspaper that the SRG's "market power must be broken, so that it has fewer means of propagating ideologies". He claimed that a "strong left-wing tendency" would reign at SSR.

A more neutral view of SRG leads to different assessments: the initiative would have serious consequences for SRG's journalistic offering and regional roots. SRG also invests heavily in Swiss culture and offers educational programs, in-depth formats and coverage of sporting events. Zurich Socialist National Councillor Jacqueline Badran adds: "According to its performance contract, SRG must also offer entertainment, as stipulated in the constitution and media law. The audience share of programs like "Landfrauenküche" or "Auf und davon" is enormous. [In the French-speaking part of Switzerland, these include "Passe-moi les jumelles" and "Bye bye la Suisse"]. Commercial providers couldn't generate such an audience, or only marginally. This is why SRG cannot be considered a competitor to private providers." Many popular programs such as the "Winter Palace" series, feature programs such as "Temps présent" or popular live sports broadcasts could no longer be produced. Thanks to SRG, every region of the country has its own radio and television. Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF), Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS), Radiotelevisione Svizzera (RSI), Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha (RTR) and Swissinfo also cover areas where private media have all but withdrawn. In this way, SRG ensures that in Switzerland, a country that is both small and quadrilingual, all linguistic and peripheral regions, as well as all population groups, have access to quality content that is independent of financial or political interests. With half the resources, this access would be lost: a complete program in four languages would simply become impossible. At a time when the private media are already in dire straits and cutting staff, weakening public service media would be more irresponsible than ever. It would not stop the sector's downward spiral, but rather accelerate it. SRG cooperates with numerous partners to strengthen the Swiss media landscape, and works closely with private media.

SRG is our spearhead in the battle against the invasion of misleading information. It guarantees fact-checking and has a network of correspondents who can confirm information directly on the spot. The future of our democracy depends heavily on the strength and credibility of our public media. The licence fee is important: it enables the SRG to provide information in complete freedom. It does not have to take into account the special interests of a private owner or focus on ratings. This favors journalism that informs, independently and at the service of the public, rather than seeking to make a profit. The cuts underway are already radical and problematic. So it's hard to imagine what would happen in the event of a massive cut to 200 francs a year. These would no longer be "optimizations", but massive cuts that would profoundly alter the offer, quality and presence in every region of the country.

Culture particularly hard hit

As pointed out by Suisseculture, the umbrella organization of Switzerland's professional cultural associations and Swiss copyright societies, of which USDAM is also a member, culture would be particularly hard hit by further cuts. For Swiss culture, SRG is not just another medium. It is an essential pillar of culture and cultural creation in Switzerland, as well as Switzerland's largest cultural producer. It plays a key role for artists in the fields of film, music, literature and many others. SRG is an important cultural vector. Thanks to its international mandates - 3Sat, TV5 Monde, tvsvizzera.it and swissinfo.com - these cultural events also enjoy visibility far beyond Switzerland's borders.

As far as music is concerned, the Swiss Music Council (SMC) has a clear perception of the importance of SRG for our country, and of the dangers that would threaten it if the initiative were accepted: the SMC points out that 80.5 % of the population listen to music via radio and television. Today, SRG is the largest platform for Swiss music - on radio, television and online. Every year, it broadcasts over 42,000 hours of Swiss music and produces almost 1,000 hours of live music. This represents a presence that no private channel or streaming platform can replace. If SRG were to be affected by the reduction in the SRG licence fee, the visibility of our music would also be diminished - and many voices would disappear from the national public arena. From SRF 3 to Couleur 3, from Rete Due to Radio RTR: on average, SSR channels broadcast 38 % of Swiss music, and some programs even exceed 50 %. This is not a matter of course, but of cultural and political choice. Private radio stations play mainly international hits: Swiss productions would then disappear from listeners' daily lives. Reducing the SRG licence fee would mean Swiss music would be withdrawn from its own public space. Every year, tens of millions of Swiss francs flow into the Swiss music industry via Suisa, Swissperform and direct productions. These funds make compositions, recordings, studios, tours and collaborations possible. Reducing the SRG licence fee would be an economic shock of historic proportions - particularly for independents, small labels, producers and ensembles. SRG broadcasts concerts by symphony orchestras, chamber music groups, jazz festivals, folk music associations and regional ensembles, thus helping to preserve our audio heritage. This type of content has no place on private channels, as it requires a demanding commitment and does not reach maximum audiences. The "200 francs, that's enough" initiative to reduce the SRG licence fee would jeopardize this essential work.

Commercial channels broadcast what makes money. SRG broadcasts what makes Switzerland. In Switzerland, music, film and cultural journalism exists almost entirely thanks to SRG. Reviews, portraits, analyses, debates, concert reports - all these have no viable commercial market. Without SRG, the space dedicated to Swiss culture would gradually disappear. And without it, culture would lose its visibility and influence. A culture that isn't talked about is a culture that doesn't exist.

Important vote for musicians

SRG has always produced radio and television programs for the whole of Switzerland, in four languages and for all sections of the population. In this way, it contributes to the cohesion of the country and plays an essential social role in public information, democratic opinion-forming, culture, entertainment and sport. Economically, its importance far exceeds its own size, and benefits the entire media sector. For all these reasons, dismantling the SRG would cause immense damage. And this is precisely what the SRG initiative risks doing. We must therefore oppose it with a clear and massive "no". According to the polls, the outcome of the vote will be close. Musicians should, in their own interest, take part in this vote and reject this initiative.