Tamedia analysis explains resounding No to the No Billag initiative
Only the SVP base accepted the No Billag initiative by a majority. The voters of the other larger parties voted almost unanimously against, as the Tamedia follow-up survey shows. A fee reduction to 200 francs, on the other hand, would have a better chance at the ballot box.
The Swiss media group Tamedia conducted a cross-title follow-up survey on its news portals on the federal vote of March 4. 16,868 people from all over Switzerland took part in the survey online on March 2 and 3. The margin of error is 1.9 percentage points.
Broad rejection
On Sunday, the Swiss electorate clearly rejected the No Billag initiative with 71.6 percent voting against. The Tamedia post-vote survey shows how broad the front against the initiative was.
Despite the pro-campaign of the trade association, only one in five FDP voters put a YES in the ballot box. Approval was even lower among supporters of the other major parties, with the exception of the SVP. Among SVP voters, 55 percent approved, while 45 percent wrote "no" on the ballot paper.
The boys also rejected the bill
There were hardly any differences between the generations: Three quarters of 18- to 34-year-olds rejected the initiative. This means that the proportion of "no" voters is similar to that of the over-65s. The highest level of approval was still among 35- to 49-year-olds (34 percent in favor).
The survey also shows that voters with low incomes were more in favor of the initiative. However, it was not enough for a majority among low-income earners either.
Majority for levy of 200 francs
According to the survey, a reduction to 200 francs would currently stand a better chance than the abolition of radio and television license fees. 62 percent would definitely or rather agree, 30 percent would definitely or rather reject the reduction. However, opinions are not yet firmly established here.
At the same time, 58 percent of voters are against SRG discontinuing stations on a large scale and limiting itself to one station per language region and medium in the future. Television advertising on SRG offerings is also widely accepted: 72 percent are against SRG dispensing with television advertising altogether in the future.
The Tamedia polls are conducted in collaboration with political scientists Lucas Leemann and Fabio Wasserfallen. They weight the survey data according to demographic, geographic and political variables so that the sample corresponds to the structure of the voting population.
Tamedia media involved: German-speaking Switzerland: 20 minutes, BZ Berner Zeitung, Der Bund, Tages-Anzeiger, SonntagsZeitung and ZRZ Zürcher Regionalzeitungen; French-speaking Switzerland: 20 minutes, 24 heures, Tribune de Genève and Le Matin/Le Matin Dimanche; Ticino: 20 minuti.
