Cooperations

Through its collaborations, SRG pursues two main goals: It aims to enhance the reach of its content and consolidate Switzerland’s position as a media location. In addition, the SRG charter stipulates certain requirements regarding cooperation and collaboration with third parties (Charter: Art. 9 Entertainment, Art. 10 Sport, Art. 25–31 Production and collaboration).

SRG’s cooperation services mainly encompass access to content, direct support services and financial support. A distinction is made here between cooperations with:

Swiss private radio stations

Cooperation partners: The Swiss Association of Private Radio Stations (RadioVerband Schweizer Privatradios, VSP), Radio Régionales Romandes (RRR), the union of non-commercial local radio stations (Union nicht-gewinnorientierter Lokalradios, UNIKOM), Radio James FM, Radio 3i, Vintage Radio, Radio Inside, Radio Freundes-Dienst, Radio Life Channel, Radio Südostschweiz, RedLine Radio, Radio2go.fm, Radio Fribourg-FR, Sunradio, Radio Summernicht, 7Radio, JamOnRadio, Radio Fiume Ticino, Radio 4TNG, Vostok, Radio MultiKulti, Radio Rottu, SkullFM, Agaune Radio, Radio Réveil and Radio L

Private radio stations can broadcast up to 24 SRG news bulletins in full, contemporaneously and citing the source

SRF operates the music platform mx3.ch, via which Swiss bands can make their music accessible to the public and to programme suppliers, concert promoters and event organisers. SRG offers private radio stations use of the mx3.ch database

For digital broadcasting (Digital Audio Broadcasting DAB+), SRG provides private radio stations with time slots on its own DAB+ layers, by reducing the bandwidth of its own radio programmes and thereby slightly diminishing the audio quality.

In the Digital Migration (DigiMig) working group, SRG and private companies have agreed on an industry solution to switch off FM in order to implement the migration together

Working with three private radio associations, SRG has founded the operating company ‘Swiss Radioplayer GmbH’. The operating company is the publisher of the internally-developed Radioplayer app ‘Swiss Radioplayer’. Improved reach is expected, while maintaining sovereignty over content

Since 1999, SRG and two radio associations have worked together to stage SwissRadioDay. The event is the industry meeting point for Switzerland’s radio industry and the only event for representatives of all linguistic regions in Switzerland. The Unikom association and the DAB+ network Digris are also involved

Swiss private television stations

Cooperation partners: Alphavision AG/ERF Medien, Presse TV, TV Léman Bleu, Canal 9, La Télé, CH Media.

Feature films and series are often acquired as licence purchases. The price for these licences is based on larger countries sharing the same language, as dubbing for the small Swiss market alone would be too expensive. SRG buys licences for films and series both alone, and jointly with Swiss private television broadcasters.

According to Art. 29 of the charter, SRG shall endeavour to work with Swiss broadcasters on their linear channels, if this increases the diversity of content on offer and does not incur additional costs for SRG. Examples of this form of cooperation are the shows ‘Fenster zum Sonntag’, ‘NZZ Format’ and ‘Standpunkte’.

SRG exclusively produces a range of sporting events in Switzerland, which private television broadcasters can also broadcast thanks to collaborations (sublicences). For example: Indoor sports such as basketball, handball, unihockey and volleyball or Swiss wrestling festivals. Based on a cooperative arrangement, from 2022 the Swiss national football team’s games will also be broadcast live on CH Media channels.

Interactive television (HbbTV) is the digital successor to analogue teletext. SRG has developed a technological platform for HbbTV which it makes available to private television broadcasters. For the visually and hearing impaired, SRG developed technology for live subtitling via HbbTV. SRG will offer the technology to private broadcasters who will in future be required by law to subtitle specific programmes.

SRG offers interested television broadcasters the option of leasing the distribution infrastructure for a fee.

Swiss publishers

Cooperation partners: Keystone sda, NZZ, TX Group, Ringier, Ringier Axel Springer (RASCH), Fundaziun Medias Rumantschas (FMR).

According to Art. 31 of the charter, SRG shall provide abridged versions of the latest audiovisual content to other Swiss media companies that recognise the Swiss Press Council’s Declaration of the Duties and Rights of Journalists. Around 70 Swiss media companies have currently registered on the SRG shared content portal (https://sharedcontent.srgssr.ch/#/).

Even before the shared content platform existed, SRG decided to make content (branded) from the archives available free of charge to private Swiss television broadcasters.

SRG provides independently produced articles and text contributions for publication in newspapers and on websites. 

SRG’s involvement in Switzerland’s only news agency is important for Switzerland as a media location.

The annual SwissMediaForum is the summit meeting of Switzerland’s media and communications industry. The media companies CH Media, NZZ, Ringier, TX Group and SRG are responsible for managing the event.

The SMD Swiss Media Database was founded by Ringier, Tamedia and SRG in order to support the editorial quality of the shareholders with central digital documentation and archive services. The database now contains the full text of most Swiss daily and weekly newspapers, as well as selected articles from international publications. SRG has a stake in SMD. www.smd.ch

Overseas event organisers

With the following partnerships, SRG takes Switzerland out into the wider world.

Broadcasting of a German-language satellite programme by ZDF, ARD, ORF and SRG. SRG provides cultural programmes and editorial services which account for around 10 per cent of its entire programming. www.3sat.de

TV5 Monde reaches around 300 million households worldwide every month with the distribution of French-language news and information programmes – with nine versions adapted to the respective time zones. TV5 Monde is carried by the public broadcasting companies of France, Belgium, Canada, Quebec, Monaco and Switzerland. www.tv5monde.com

European cultural TV channel. SRG is involved in joint productions. www.arte.tv

The OSA is a Swiss foundation. It keeps Swiss expatriates up to date on what’s happening at home, in line with their specific needs, and offers them a wide range of services. A regular exchange of content between the online platform www.swissinfo.ch and the OSA’s publication organ, the ‘Swiss Review’ is agreed.

Swiss audiovisual industry

SRG works closely with many different production partners in the Swiss audiovisual industry: film producers, contract production stakeholders and technical audio and video service providers (camera, sound, lighting and grip, editing, post-production image and sound, equipment rental, etc.). The cooperation between the SRG and the Swiss audiovisual industry is regulated by an agreement which the SRG has concluded with the relevant associations. Through this agreement, the SRG commits to high-quality audiovisual production in Switzerland and promotes Swiss productions and service providers. The following list contains the partners who have given their consent to publication. The list is not complete.

Other cooperative ventures and partnerships

Swiss Solidarity holds collections in times of disaster – man-made or natural – and contributes to financing aid programmes operated by the Glückskette partner, Schweizer Hilfswerken. SRG is a founding member of Swiss Solidarity. www.glueckskette.ch

MAZ is the leading journalist college in German-speaking Switzerland. SRG supports MAZ with CHF 250,000 each year. SRG employees also share their knowledge and skills: The education departments of Schweizer Fernsehen und Radio run joint courses with MAZ. www.maz.ch

SRG is a founding member of Memoriav. Memoriav is an association for the preservation of Switzerland’s audiovisual cultural heritage. www.memoriav.ch. SRG is also a founding member of the Swiss National Sound Archives. Schweizerische Landesphonothek is tasked with collecting, developing and preparing sound media for use in content which is related to Swiss history and culture. www.fonoteca.ch

Viasuisse AG collects, checks and processes traffic information on road and rail from all over Switzerland around the clock and distributes it on a continuous basis to SRG media and Swiss private radio stations, in three languages. www.viasuisse.ch

SRG has been a partner to Switzerland’s audiovisual industry for a number of years. An agreement governs collaboration both with technical service providers and with commissioned producers for the outsourced production of broadcasts and programmes. SRG is thus committed to high-quality audiovisual production in Switzerland.

With the agreement to collaborate with the Swiss music industry, SRG is committed to broadcasting an appropriate proportion of Swiss music productions in its radio programmes. The target values for the presence of Swiss music set each year by Switzerland’s music industry are usually slightly exceeded.

The Pacte de l’audiovisuel sets the framework for co-productions between SRG and independent film producers. SRG invests more than 30 million francs in the Swiss film industry every year.

The Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), SRG, Ringier and the ‘Triangle Azur’ (an association of the Universities of Geneva, Lausanne and Neuchâtel) work together to promote innovations in the field of media and information technology. The Federal Office for Communications (BAKOM) also supports projects undertaken by this initiative. The IMI is open to all private and public stakeholders from Switzerland and abroad who are active in this area and who wish to join it. www.media-initiative.ch

SRG is a funding partner for the establishment of a professorship and a new centre for media technology at ETH Zurich. Together with the media companies NZZ, Ringier and TX Group, SRG is doing its bit towards bringing practice and research in the field of media technology closer together, and to harnessing technological advancement for Switzerland as a media centre.