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The Swiss public’s decision to adopt an amendment of the Radio- und Fernsehgesetz (Radio and Television Act - RTVG) has been confirmed. The Swiss voters had agreed, by a wafer-thin majority, to change the way public service broadcasting is funded on 14 June 2015 (see IRIS 2015-7/5). According to the provisional official result, the difference between the yes and no votes was only 3,696. A number of voters asked the Bundesgericht (Federal Supreme Court) for a recount. However, in public deliberations, the highest Swiss court rejected their requests on 19 August 2015. In the court’s opinion, there...

The Swiss people adopted an amendment of the Radio- und Fernsehgesetz (Radio and Television Act - RTVG) with a wafer-thin majority in a referendum held on 14 June 2015. Changes to the financing of public service broadcasting, which the Swiss Parliament had approved in September 2014 (see IRIS 2014-10/6) were supported by 50.08% of the voters. The referendum was preceded by intensive political campaigning that attracted a high level of media coverage. Voter turnout for the referendum was a mediocre 42.8%. According to the provisional official result announced on polling day, supporters of the proposed...

In a case concerning the conviction of four journalists for having recorded and broadcast an interview using hidden cameras, the European Court of Human Rights found, by six votes to one, that the Swiss authorities had violated the journalists’ rights protected under Article 10 on freedom of expression of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court emphasised that the use of hidden cameras by the journalists was aimed at providing public information on a subject of general interest, whereby the person filmed was targeted not in any personal capacity, but as a professional broker. The Court...

The Federal Council has approved a partial revision of the legislation on radio and television broadcasting (Ordonnance sur la Radio et la Télévision - ORTV), relaxing the conditions applicable to regional broadcasters. This will take effect on 1 January 2015. The Swiss Government’s purpose, in approving the revision, is to support the transition of local radio stations to DAB+ digital technology. Thus, those broadcasters transmitting using DAB+ can be released from the obligation to broadcast using OUC technology. This will avoid imposing on the broadcasters concerned the cost of substantial financial...

On 26 September 2014, the Swiss Parliament approved the introduction of a new broadcasting charge, which all households and businesses will have to pay whether they own a reception device or not. The Government (Bundesrat) had proposed the idea in May 2013 in response to technological advances, including the possibility of watching TV programmes on mobile phones. Both Chambers of Parliament approved the new system (the Nationalrat by 109 votes to 85 with 4 abstentions and the Ständerat by 28 votes to 14 with 3 abstentions). However, the introduction of the new charge is still not guaranteed and...