The debate on the new RTVG and the “public service” must be held - but please with an eye to the future!

The discussion about the Revision of the RTVG is running at full speed and is not always conducted objectively. The revision is actually about switching from the fee model via Billag to a general media levy. The opponents have managed to shift the focus to another topic that has been postponed for a long time and could now hit the SRG like a boomerang: the role of the SRG and its strategy. Of course it's no coincidence that certain circles use the current debate to fundamentally question public broadcasting and, for example, try to influence reporting through privatization.

However, it seems much more important to me that there is finally a discussion about how the SRG performs in the Swiss media market. The SRG operates two to three TV channels per language region, i.e. in total 7 television programs, and 17 radio programs. There are also digital offerings from the news platform swissinfo.ch. Even though I am definitely in favor of public service programs with balanced information, it seems to me that there are a lot of offers, all of which are justified with the beautiful term "public service" (under which one can imagine everything and nothing). Even the three soulless music players like Radio Swiss Pop fall under "public service", although since Spotify at the latest, anyone can put together (or have) such a radio station put together for themselves.

This problem will resolve itself sooner or later. TV usage among young people has been steadily declining for years, even though offerings like Netflix have not been available in Switzerland for long. I haven't owned a radio or a TV for years - and I haven't missed it for a second. I don't consume any of the SRG's offerings (and if I do, for example a football match at a public screening), I only get information online, where I can put together news myself according to my interests. Many other digital natives and digital immigrants feel the same way as me. At some point the Musikantenstadl generation will be extinct - and no one watches linear television anymore. Unless SRG and all other radio and TV providers reinvent themselves, they will be history in a few years.

TV usage in Switzerland by age group | Create infographics

It is therefore not surprising that SRG is ingratiating itself with young people. This is how you poach in the field of personalized radio Project diy.fm, probably largely out of the public eye. But the latest app is an unparalleled impudence Politbox, a game about the 2015 elections led by journalist Konrad Weber was developed. According to the license, SRG is actually only allowed to offer broadcast-related products on the web. However, the SRG generously interprets this rule according to its own wishes - after all, “public service” is what the SRG does. Politbox is neither audio nor video content and could just as easily be from a startup Political network or be offered to a young media outlet like Watson. Such a quiz app has absolutely nothing to do with journalism, and as an entrepreneur, it worries me that the talented young people behind Politbox would apparently rather have an app developed in the safe haven of the SRG with good pay than believe in their idea, gather their courage and turn it into a startup.

My conclusion: sooner or later neither linear radio nor linear television will be consumed. International offerings such as Spotify or Netflix completely replace classic electronic media. The discussion about the number of programs that the SRG is allowed to host is therefore pointless. It is much more important that the term "public service" is clarified precisely and that clear and narrow limits are imposed on the SRG in the online area. As long as the SRG is allowed to continue to simply launch multimedia offerings and apps, innovative young Swiss entrepreneurs will always have to fear that they will be forced out of the market by the publicly financed SRG with its enormous media power. Just as it has already done with private TV channels that wanted to buy licenses for sports or entertainment formats. Otherwise, in a few years we will actually only use international offers that are in front of us Roger de Weck is so afraid.