E-sports arrive on Swiss public TV

Swiss public television RTS is launching a channel dedicated to video games and e-sports.

At the end of January, RTS, the French-language Swiss public broadcaster, embarked on a bold project to open a channel on the platform Twitch exclusively dedicated to gaming and e-sports.

A team of seven employees passionate about the culture of video games is working on this pilot project, with a test period expected to last at least three months.

The channel is being developed within the scope of the public broadcaster’s mandate to reach all audiences, including young people. As this segment of the population is difficult to attract, new ways are being explored to communicate with them.

The ambition behind this pilot project is to demonstrate that there is indeed an interest for gaming among the French-speaking audience. The intention of the channel is also to explore the culture of video games, something few broadcasters have attempted, as  the private sector is seen to have a monopoly on the subject.

The platform Twitch is operated by Twitch Interactive, a subsidiary of Amazon. The platform focuses on video game live streaming, including broadcasts of e-sports competitions, in addition to music broadcasts. It is estimated that the platform currently attracts more than 2 million daily broadcasters and 15 million daily viewers.