Explainer: Swiss to vote on initiative to cut media licence fee

Under the slogan “The halving initiative weakens Switzerland”, opponents of the initiative stress that reliable, trustworthy information is central to Swiss democracy and national cohesion. Keystone / Michael Buholzer

On March 8, the Swiss will vote on an initiative that wants to almost halve the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC)’s television and radio licence fee for households and exempt companies from paying it. Critics say the cuts would be too drastic, arguing that national cohesion and democracy are at risk.

The initiative is one of four proposals on which voters will have their say that day.

The origins of the initiative

The popular initiativeExternal link, known as the “SBC initiative” is the second attempt to scale back funding for the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), Swissinfo’s parent company. The “No Billag” initiative, which sought to abolish the licence fee entirely, was rejected by 71% of voters in 2018.

After the “No Billag” defeat, the same groups launched an initiative which called for reduced licence fees. This seems less radical than the previous attempt.

The initiative was launched by a committee made up of members of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, the Swiss Trade Association and sections of the centre-right Radical-Liberal Party. Their motivations differ. The People’s Party takes issue with the SBC’s internal structure and overall direction, while trade groups and some Radical-Liberals want to eliminate the fee for businesses.

What the proposal would change

Under the proposal, the government would charge households CHF200 ($250) per year for the media licence, down from the current CHF335. For companies, the levy can be significantly higher and depends on turnover. The initiative would change this, making companies fully exempt.

The initiative would also cap total licence fee revenues, meaning that any increase in the number of households in the future would trigger a corresponding reduction in the fee.

What would not change is the distribution of licence fee revenues among Switzerland’s four language regions. Furthermore, the initiative specifies that reducing the fee revenue must not come at the expense of private media companies. They would continue to receive the same amounts of money as before.

How the SBC is currently financed

With an annual budget of CHF1.56 billion, 83% of the SBC’s funding comes from the compulsory media licence fees, which in 2024 generated almost CHF1.3 billion. Advertising and sponsorship make up a further 13%.

Other income makes up the remaining 4%, including federal funds for the SBC’s international mandate, which serves the Swiss Abroad. This provides for example half of the operating budget of Swissinfo, the SBC’s smallest business unit.

Funding for regional subsidiaries is allocated by the SBC parent organisation using a redistribution formula designed to balance differences in revenue and costs among the language regions.

Under this system, CHF370 million of the CHF930 million raised though licence fees in German-speaking Switzerland is transferred to other regions. This means that French-speaking Switzerland’s unit, RTS, receives 32% of the SBC budget, even though the region generates just 23% of revenues. The Italian-speaking unit, RSI, benefits by an even greater margin, receiving 22% of the budget, with canton Ticino bringing in only 4% of the revenue.

Kai Reusser / SWI swissinfo.ch

With its total budget, the SBC produces 17 radio and seven television programmes in four language regions, alongside online services such as Swissinfo and tvsvizzera.it. “Our multilingualism accounts for around 40% of our costs,” the SBC writes.

How licence fees have changed already

Licence fees have already been cut several times in recent years. In 2019, ahead of the “No Billag” vote, the government reduced the annual household fee from CHF451 to CHF365. Two years later, it was lowered again to CHF335 for private households and the government reduced the fee’s impact on small businesses.

In 2024, the government announced further cuts. Starting in 2027, the licence fee will be gradually lowered to CHF300, and smaller companies will be fully exempt from paying. This move is the government’s direct response to the “SBC initiative”. Commenting on the CHF300 fee, Communications Minister Albert Rösti said: “the Federal Council considers this justifiable in order to head off the ‘SBC initiative’.”

View of the SRG control room at the Federal Parliament studio in Bern. Keystone / Alessandro Della Valle

For the SBC, however, the planned cuts already pose a major challenge. The public broadcaster is responding with a broad transformation project aimed at cutting costs and repositioning the organisation for the future. Starting in 2029, the SBC expects to see a reduction of CHF270 million in its annual budget. Up to 900 full-time jobs could be cut.

What the initiative’s supporters say

Supporters of the “SBC initiative” focus above all on the potential financial relief for private Swiss households. They argue that, with the cost of living on the rise, the licence fee needs to be adjusted. They also claim that SBC content is reaching fewer and fewer people, especially younger people, who increasingly prefer providers such as Netflix or YouTube.

Supporters also describe the licence fee for companies as a form of “unfair double taxation”. “A small business cannot consume media,” they argue.

Critics of the SBC also openly state that they are not satisfied with the content offered across its programming. They argue that the broadcaster should be “forced to refocus on its core public-service mandateExternal link”, taking aim at both news and entertainment formats. In their view, the SBC’s only legitimate mandate is for programmes that deliver “an indispensable service to the general public”.

According to the initiative’s supporters, CHF850 million would be more than enough to cover the SBC’s core services. They also argue that Switzerland’s private media sector is dynamic enough to provide the public with the context they need to form political views.

What the initiative’s opponents say

Opponents warn that such a radical cut in revenues would threaten the “diversity and quality of Switzerland’s public-service media”. Under the slogan “The halving initiative weakens Switzerland”, they stress that reliable, trustworthy information is central to Swiss democracy and national cohesion.

For opponents, the SBC is the only media organisation serving the entire country and, thanks to licence fee funding, is not driven by click rates or the interests of corporate ownership. This, they argue, makes it a guarantor of independent, high-quality information which serves the public interest.

Responding to criticism of the fee for companies, the SBC says Swiss businesses benefit from its services. SBC director general Susanne Wille warns that weakening the broadcaster’s operational capacity would have far-reaching consequences. “This money would never come back,” she says. “It would not just affect the SBC but would hurt the entire Swiss system. Only foreign actors would benefit.”

Voting recommendations for the “SBC initiative”:

No:

• The government and parliament
• The Social Democrats, the Centre Party, the Green Party, the Liberal Green Party,
• Various sports associations, the Swiss Association of Municipalities

Yes:

• The Swiss People’s Party, the youth section of the Radical-Liberal Party, and the Swiss Trade Association

Yet to issue a recommendation:

• The Radical-Liberal Party

Edited by Mark Livingston/Adapted from German by David Kelso Kaufher/ts