“Adverts are the yolk of some TV eggs”
von Mark Howells-Mead
According to the Swiss Federal Office for Communication (“Bakom“), regulatory changes currently being reviewed in the world of Swiss media will allow public broadcaster SRG SSR idée suisse, which operates state radio and television channels, to broadcast advertising spots more often. The proposed changes will bring Swiss broadcasters more in line with other European concerns and will allow the broadcaster equal rights with their commercial competitors. An additional reason for the proposed changes, according to Bakom, will be that “with timely changes, investment in new technologies and the broadcast of radio programmes can be more strongly promoted“. (Source).
Commercial channels such as RTL and Sat 1 have long been allowed to broadcast adverts much more frequently within their schedules and plans for the new regulation have caused varying feedback. A commentary piece at Blick and comments from several readers have drawn highlight to the same issue which the British public broadcaster BBC have faced recently (see comments by media mogul James Murdoch): that a license fee cannot sit well with channels having an increased level of advertising. A proposal which could allow up to 12 minutes per hour of commercial slots – potentially surrounded by additional advertising for the channel’s own offerings and other programmes up to once every thirty minutes – means that unless the national license fee is amended or abandoned, Swiss residents will be paying for channels which only use a maximum of 80% of their airtime to broadcast real content.
Reactions in the press to the changes also concur with Murdoch’s attack on the BBC. Opening up the possibilites for the Swiss media giant within the advertising world, including a removal of the ban on online advertising and sponsorship which is currently in place, will make life much tougher for private channels and possibly lead to a decrease in choices within the national market. Public reactions to the potential changes are varied; from some who feel that the license fee collected by Billag should be removed to others who oddly seem to greet the move to break programmes into shorter segments. (Could this be related to the continued quaint practice in cinemas of having intervals midway through films?) The ban on advertising midway through broadcast church services and children’s programmes will remain.
What public response to the potential change shows is that the government and media must heed the opinions and advice of all parties; from the media themselves to the public and independent experts. Commentary is widespread and takes several viewpoints: from those who are unenthusiastic about the changes out of indignation related to the license fee; to those who seem not to care as they prefer commercial pay-per-view services; to those who advise how “advertising won’t bring anything during the [current] crisis because the public are saving or have empty pockets“.
The award for best quote of the whole story must, though, go to Blick reader Markus Hübscher from Schaffhausen.
“Funny adverts are the yolk of some TV eggs.“
Geschrieben von Mark Howells-Mead am 16. September 2009 um 09:32 | Permalink
Tags (Schlagworte): advertising, bakom, broadcasting, bundesamt für kommunikation, government, licensing, media, regulation, srg ssr idée suisse, television
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