Swiss television shows football games that it must not radiate
For the first time ever, the federal government has initiated a procedure against the SRG – now the decision is there
SRF shows football games that the broadcaster is not allowed to radiate – but the supervision does not enter. This decision is met with sharp criticism.
For the first time ever, the Federal Office of Communication has carried out a supervisory proceedings against the SRG. The reason was a possible violation of the concession. The publicly financed radio could have broken the rules that apply to him. The Federal Office is now available.
The procedure had been launched according to an article by CH Media: The research had shown how Swiss television on the repeat channel SRF Info Info shows live broadcasts of sporting events – although this was probably not permitted.
One example was the football game between the Norwegian club Bodø and the Serbian club Roter Stern Belgrade. The Federal Office of Communication is now concluding: The match should not have been shown on SRF Info on August 28, 2024. The Federal Office continues: The broadcast of the football international between Scotland and Finland from June 7, 2024 also hides against the regulations.
In both cases, the authority found that the sporting event did not meet any “event of national importance”. However, this requirement must be met if live sport is shown on SRF Info.
The broadcaster was launched in 2001 to repeat information programs that were previously broadcast on SRF 1 and SRF 2. In addition, the repetition channel can present programs of national importance about events “original”, ie live. This includes transmissions of debates in the federal parliament, lectures at the World Economic Forum in Davos and sporting events.
The “exception” can be visited every day
The private media companies criticize that far too much sport is shown on SRF Info. Swiss television thus turns two channels three and increases its market share. At live sport, more people are watching than repeating the « Tagesschau » and the broadcast « 10 to 10. »
The report of the Federal Office for Communication now confirms the accusation that SRF Info often shows something different from repetitions. The Federal Office instructed the SRG to list all live broadcasts that had been broadcast on SRF Info from June to August 2024: the SRG showed no less than 100 programs. In a period of three months, this results in more than one transfer per day.
This high number is available in the blatant objection of the Federal Office: It states that the character of SRF Info is to be recorded as a repeat channel for information programs. Initial broadcasts are likely to be “only carried out in exceptional cases”. Can one speak of an exception if something happens every day or more often? The SRG apparently does not care about the requirement of the supervisory authority.
The Federal Office 10 selected the 100 sports broadcasts that were shown on SRF Info from June to August 2024 for a more precise analysis. At 8, the position of Swiss television agreed that an “event of national importance” had been shown. Examples: The handball game between Kadetten Schaffhausen and Kriens-Lucerne, a Moto 3 motorcycle race in Great Britain, the qualification for a Formula 1 car car in Belgium.
Handball games and motorcycle races « of national interest »
In the concession it is not clearly defined what an “event of national importance” is. The SRG thinks that it is not a “exact science”, it refers to its “program autonomy” – and uses its own criteria: a major sporting event can be shown on SRF Info. Swiss participation in a less important competition is important. Or the venue: if it lies in Germany, that speaks for a transfer. Finally, competitions are also permitted that are only interested in one specialist audience. For example handball, cross -country skiing, riding.
May not intervene at the SRG: Bernard Maissen, the director of the Federal Office for Communication.
The Federal Office for the Federal Office of Communication largely follows these arguments. And it does not intervene if the SRG explains: it has acquired the transfer rights, now she must also show the event – because that was part of the contract. Why does the SRG acquire sports rights for which it is dependent on the repeat channel? The Federal Office refrains from addressing this point.
The authority comes to the conclusion: During the football games Scotland against Finland and Red Stern Belgrade against Bodø, the SRG did not meet the requirements for a broadcast on SRF Info. However, the Federal Office may not speak of a violation of the license. With an error rate of 2 percent with 100 original broadcasts, « the concession is fulfilled as a whole ». The order has no consequences for the SRG.
This is bad at the Association of Swiss Regional Television Telesuisse. President André Moesch says: «The Federal Office of Communication states in its decision that the SRG clearly violated its license with the broadcast of two games. But this does not have specific consequences for the SRG, neither financial nor organizational. » The SRG does not even have to explain how to avoid such concession violations in the future. As usual, the SRG is touched by the supervisory authority with velvet gloves. « It is very different with the regional broadcasters, in which the Federal Office checks the stopwatch in their hand to the second whether they meet their concession order. »
The Federal Office of Communication points out that in the summer of 2024 the European Football Championship, the Olympic Games and the Paralympics had taken place. This explains « the possible accumulation of live reporting » of the SRG. The SRF Info repeat channel provided for information programs served as an overflow vessel for sports broadcasts of all kinds.
