Dispute over time-shifted television goes into the next round

The problem and the associated dispute have been dragging on for some time now: Because TV viewers are increasingly making use of the rewind and selection functions of time-shifted TV (catch-up TV), broadcasters are threatened with the loss of advertising revenue, which could threaten their very existence. In 2014, advertising worth 50 million Swiss francs was fast-forwarded; in 2015, the figure was already 67 million - the amount is likely to soon amount to 10 percent of total TV advertising revenues.

Blessing and curse

For network operators, the replay functions are an attractive sales argument, because they offer numerous advantages - from the customer's point of view. More and more people are acquiring a taste for time-shifted television. According to Mediapulse, in the second half of 2016, for example, more than 26 percent of total TV usage among young people (15-29 years) in western Switzerland was time-shifted - a record figure (Werbewoche.ch reported).

As compensation, Swisscom, UPC & Co. pay a fee to the broadcasters. However, TV executives believe that this is far too low to compensate for the advertising losses. Last year, they therefore demanded a better rate - or else severe cuts in the TV user's catch-up freedoms. (Werbewoche.ch reported). Alongside 3+ and Pro7 Sat.1, SRG also campaigned at the time for fairer compensation for the overwound channels - with the aim of not curtailing the popular benefits of catch-up TV in the process. The 2012 fixed tariff for the years 2013 to 2016 expired and was renegotiated last year.

The broadcasters, represented by the collecting society Suissimage, were satisfied with the negotiated Design not satisfied. Instead of 1.50 as before, 1.60 francs were now to be paid per ad-skimming user of 7-day replay (picture above). The broadcasters subsequently wanted to have their own say and thus push through their demands. As Switzerland at the Weekend writes in its current issue, this involved, among other things, limiting the replay function to two, instead of seven days. Each user should also have to start a recording command once a month for each channel on which they want to use catch-up functions. And search and filter functions within the archive should be prohibited.

Arbitration commission wants associations, not broadcasters at the round table

But an agreement is now a long way off. According to Schweiz am Wochenende, the Federal Arbitration Commission decided a week ago that the broadcasters may not intervene in the negotiations as a party. It cited two reasons for this: Two participants in the negotiations had directly represented the interests of the broadcasters. Furthermore, it was precisely the idea of collective exploitation that associations, and not individual rights holders, conducted the negotiations.

The decision is a sour note. Andrea Werder, managing director of IG Radio und Fernsehen, is disappointed. She says it is unique in the world that TV broadcasters cannot help shape the conditions under which their programs are offered on time-shifted television. The agreement reached by the user associations and the collecting societies "over the heads of the broadcasters" does not take the interests of the broadcasters into account in any way, she tells the newspaper.

The further course of action is open - but an appeal to the Federal Administrative Court seems likely. According to Werder, the "enormous advertising losses" would threaten the stations' existence in the long term. (hae)