Severin Nowacki
The Swiss government and the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), Swissinfo’s parent company, have agreed a new mandate for the broadcaster’s international services for 2027-2030. The budget will be cut by almost half, while the Portuguese and Japanese services, as well as the Italian online portal tvsvizzera.it, will be discontinued.
The new foreign mandate will come into force on January 1, 2027 and remain in place until December 31, 2030.
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At its meeting on Wednesday, the Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive body, approved the 2027-2030 service agreement between the Swiss Confederation and the SBC covering media services for audiences abroad. Funding will be reduced from CHF18.8 million ($23 million) to CHF 10.5 million.
Despite the cuts, the Federal Council said a “comprehensive and high-quality international service” could be maintained.
The cuts run counter to Parliament’s position, the media union SSM said in a statement, expressing regret over the Federal Council’s decision. Most recently, Parliament spoke out against reducing international programming in March.
“The Federal Council is effectively sidestepping the parliamentary process with this move,” the SSM added, noting that the Federal Assembly is not due to debate funding for international programming in 2027 until the upcoming winter session. It said it was unacceptable for the government to pre-empt that decision by making “massive” cuts to the federal contribution, and called for the move to be reversed.
Swissinfo to operate in eight languages
From 2027, Swissinfo will report in Switzerland’s three official languages – German, French and Italian – as well as five international languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and Arabic.
As a result of the funding cuts, the Portuguese and Japanese services will close. The tvsvizzera.it platform will also cease operations.
Funding model from 2031
The Federal Council has also instructed the communications ministry (DETEC) to ensure that, under the next mandate from 2031, the international service is funded equally by the SBC and the federal government, as was previously the case.
However, the government’s contribution would be capped at the level allocated for 2027-2030.
According to the Federal Council, the SBC is required to provide information services for audiences abroad alongside its domestic services. “The aim is to strengthen ties between Swiss citizens living overseas and their home country, while also promoting understanding of Switzerland internationally,” they wrote in the press release.
Changes for TV5 Monde and 3sat
The SBC’s international services include content provided to the international television channels 3Sat and TV5Monde, as well as the multilingual online platform Swissinfo. The mandate sets out quality and output requirements for each of these services.
Under the new agreement, Switzerland’s contribution to TV5 Monde and 3sat will be adjusted through a more selective choice of programmes and, where necessary, by ending certain co-productions.
The share of Swiss programming on TV5 Monde will remain unchanged at 9%, while the proportion on 3sat will be reduced from 10% to 8%.
In addition, the Swiss government will cover the full cost of Switzerland’s mandatory contribution to TV5 Monde for the 2027-2030 period.
This article was updated to add the response from the media union SSM.
