SRG SSR is a public service broadcaster in Switzerland. It is built upon a federalist model specific to the country’s political organization.
SRG SSR consists of five broadcast corporations: Radiotelevisione svizzera (RSI) for Italian language broadcasts, Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha (RTR) for Romance language broadcasts, Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) for French language broadcasts, Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) for German language broadcasts, and SWI swissinfo.ch, a news portal that publishes content in 10 languages.
SRG SSR has a portfolio of 26 radio and television channels. Founded in 1931, the company is headquartered in Bern, the capital of Switzerland.
Media assets
Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF): Television: SRF 1, SRF zwei, SRF info; Radio: Radio SRF 1, Radio SRF 2 Kultur, Radio SRF 3, Radio SRF 4 News, Radio SRF Musikwelle, Radio SRF Virus
Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana (RSI): Television: RSI La 1, RSI La 2; Radio: RSI Rete Uno, RSI Rete Due, RSI Rete Tre
Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS): Television: RTS 1, RTS 2, RTS Info; Radio: La 1ère, Espace 2, Couleur 3, Option Musique
Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha (RTR): Televisiun Rumantscha (TvR); Radio Rumantsch; Swiss Info
State Media Matrix Typology: Independent Public (IP)
Ownership and governance
The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) is a non-profit association consisting of four regional companies with around 22,500 members. Membership is open to anyone interested in the media. The four regional companies influence the content of the SRG SSR by communicating the concerns of their audiences to the broadcaster, in line with the SRG SSR statute, the document that governs the broadcaster’s operation.
The highest governing bodies at the SRG SSR are the Delegates’ Assembly and the Board of Directors. The presidents of the four regional companies are members of both the Board of Directors and the Delegates’ Assembly.
The Delegates Assembly comprises 41 individuals, including delegates from the four regional companies, three members of the Board of Directors elected by the Delegates Assembly, and two members appointed by the Federal Council (Switzerland’s government). An Executive Board made up of the Director General, the Director for Development and Offering, the Director of Operations, the Director of Finances, and the directors of the regional companies (RSI, RTR, RTS, and SRF) serves as the station’s supreme decision-making body.
Source of funding and budget
SRG SSR generates around 80% of its budget through a user levy, which used to be called the “license fee” until 2019. The main difference between the levy before and after 2019 is that the current tax is imposed on all households that consume audiovisual content, whereas previously, the tax (then called the “license fee”) was paid by all those who owned a device to receive audiovisual content.
The current user levy is CHF 335 (US$ 355) per year and is collected by Serafe, a fund collection agency selected through a public tender process. Serafe has won a contract to collect the fee for SRG SSR until 2025.
In 2021, SRG SSR had a total budget of CHF 1.51bn (US$ 1.57bn), with CHF 1.2bn coming from user levies and the remaining funds primarily generated from advertising sales, according to the company’s annual report. In 2022, SRG SSR had a budget of CHF 1.57bn (US$ 1.62bn) based on the company’s data. In 2023, SRG SSR’s budget reached CHF 1.54bn (US$ 1.75bn), some 82% of it being accounted for by the media levy.
Editorial independence
There are no government-imposed rules on the SRG SSR that require the broadcaster to provide favorable editorial coverage to the authorities. The broadcaster is widely popular among Swiss citizens primarily due to its credibility and strong editorial coverage.
Key documents, including the Federal Constitution and the SRG SSR Charter, guarantee the SRG SSR’s editorial independence. The broadcaster’s editorial autonomy is explicitly mentioned among the law’s key guarantees.
Each regional company within the SRG has a public council. The primary mission of this council is to facilitate communication between the public and the broadcaster’s professionals responsible for creating programs. Additionally, the SRG SSR has an ombudsman’s office responsible for receiving complaints about SRG SSR’s content and making recommendations for remedies for the broadcaster’s editorial teams involved in producing the respective content.
August 2024