Nov 27, 2009 - 16:49

More government money for swissinfo.ch?

The federal government is being asked to consider increasing its contribution to the financing of swissinfo.ch as its parent company faces a budget shortfall.

The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation says in its financial report for the period 2011-2014 submitted to the cabinet on Friday, that it needs SFr54 million ($54.01 million) more per year on average to fulfil its mandate.

The cabinet must decide how the budget can be balanced. One option is to allow more advertising and sponsoring.

Services designed for foreign audiences, namely swissinfo.ch, 3SAT and TV5, could receive additional government funding, the report also suggests.

The report says that savings measures being implemented have already reached their limit, and warns that without additional funding, cuts will have to be made to programming.

swissinfo.ch and agencies