On March 8, the Swiss will vote on an initiative that wants to almost halve the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC)’s television and radio licence fee for households and exempt companies from paying it. Critics say the cuts would be too drastic, arguing that national cohesion and democracy are at risk. The initiative is one of four proposals on which voters will have their say that day. The origins of the initiative The popular initiative, known as the “SBC initiative” is the second attempt to scale back funding for the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), Swissinfo’s parent company. The “No Billag” initiative, which sought to abolish the licence fee entirely, was rejected by 71% of voters in 2018. After the “No Billag” defeat, the same groups launched an initiative which called for reduced licence fees. This seems less radical than the previous attempt. The initiative was launched by a committee made up of members of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, the Swiss Trade ...
