Voters in Switzerland have rejected a proposal to sharply cut the public licence fee for SRG SSR, securing the funding model of the public broadcaster.
In a nationwide referendum held on 8 March 2026, around 62% of voters opposed the so-called “Halving Initiative”, which sought to reduce the annual household broadcasting fee from CHF 335 to CHF 200 and abolish the levy for companies. With a majority of cantons also voting against the proposal, the initiative has been defeated.
The proposal would have almost halved the funding available to SRG SSR, the country’s largest media organisation, which operates television and radio services across Switzerland’s German, French, Italian and Romansh-speaking regions.
According to calculations by Swiss economic research institute Bak Economics, the cuts could have forced the broadcaster to eliminate around half of its 5,500 full-time positions and significantly scale back its services. The company had warned ahead of the vote that such a reduction would have required a strong centralisation of operations and the closure of many regional sites.
The initiative was driven by right-conservative political groups, which argued that younger audiences make limited use of the broadcaster’s television and radio output and that SRG SSR should focus on a narrower core remit centred on news and information. The campaign also criticised what it described as a political bias in the broadcaster’s programming and called for entertainment and most online activities to be left to commercial market players.
SRG Director General Susanne Wille welcomed the outcome. “We will do everything possible to continue accompanying audiences in their daily lives with a diverse and strong programme,” she said after the vote.
The result was also welcomed by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), describing the vote as a strong endorsement of public service media.
“We are delighted that the Swiss voting public has given such a clear and decisive endorsement of public media in Switzerland,” said EBU Director General Noel Curran. “Adequately funded public service media contributes to higher levels of public trust in news and information and is closely linked to more resilient democratic systems, better able to withstand polarisation and disinformation.”
