Federal government investigates political advertising on private TV stations
Several private TV stations have broadcast parts of an SVP video on the Limitation Initiative. Since political advertising is prohibited for radio and television, the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom) has now intervened.
CH Media angered
CH Media was already angry about Pro Kultura's actions when the political advertising trick became known. At the time the spot was booked, CH Media justified itself by saying that the media group had not been aware of any connection with the initiative. And via Nau.ch, it directed specific accusations in the direction of the SVP: "The client obviously deceived CH Media about the authorship of the spot with the intention of circumventing the ban on advertising for topics that are the subject of popular votes," a spokesperson said. (hae/SDA)
Among other things, the spot was broadcast in a commercial break on August 18 on TeleZüri (screenshot TeleZüri via Nau.ch).
Bakom will clarify the matter in detail, as a spokeswoman confirmed several media reports on Wednesday. After that, it will be decided whether a supervisory procedure will be initiated. Excerpts of the video were shown, among others, in the advertising windows of TeleZüri and TeleBärn, which belong to CH Media.
If Bakom detects a violation of the law, it can order measures to remedy the damage or prevent a recurrence. It can confiscate profits or even withdraw the license. Two measures at the same time are also possible, the Bakom spokeswoman said.
The violation has made public the news portal Nau.ch on August 20. The trick that the spot could be "smuggled" into the regional TV advertising windows: The sender is not the SVP, as in the original film, but an association called Pro Kultura. Behind it is Olivier Imfeld, vice president of the SVP Lucerne. Imfeld tells Nau.ch that the message of the first part about landscape and culture impressed him. He therefore asked video initiator and SVP National Councillor Thomas Matter whether he could use the excerpt for a television advertisement on behalf of ProKultura, Imfeld explains further. After Matter's okay, TeleZüri, TeleBärn, 3plus or 4plus then also broadcast the spot.
