Saving hammer at Leutschenbach SRF abolishes "Mittags-Tagesschau" - 75 jobs lost

Swiss Radio and Television is cutting 75 full-time positions. The range of programs will also be adjusted.

SRG will have to save around 150 million per year from 2029. This was announced by Media Minister Albert Rösti in June. The Federal Council wants to reduce the Serafe fees from the current CHF 335 to CHF 300 in the coming years.

This will have far-reaching consequences for SRG. In future, around 15 to 20 percent less budget will be available.

SRG announced job cuts on Monday. Specifically, according to the announcement, 75 jobs will be cut - 10 percent of which will be management positions.

Nathalie Wappler comments: "Our corporate responsibility obliges us to maintain a balanced budget. I very much regret that this goal can only be achieved next year through job cuts. Of course, we are doing everything we can to minimize the number of redundancies. Nevertheless, this will be unavoidable. Those affected will be covered by the SRG social plan."

Broadcasts will be canceled

As SRF wrote in a press release on Monday, the personnel measures will be implemented once the consultation process has been completed. The "SRF 4.0" corporate project will provide assistance. Broadcasts are also to be canceled or sent on summer break.

In order to fulfill the savings mandate and at the same time drive forward the transformation, selective changes to the information offering at low-usage times are unavoidable: from summer 2025, the "Tagesschau" editions at midday and 6 p.m. will be replaced by moderated newsflashes, while the midday edition will be discontinued at weekends.

This will allow SRF to focus on programs in linear prime time. In addition, the programs "Club" and "Gesichter & Geschichten" will also be paused in the summer - in line with the magazines and other talk programs.

Further adjustments and synergies

The station-specific news bulletins on Radio SRF Virus will be discontinued and replaced by the regular news from Radio SRF. The number of regional journals on weekends will be reduced selectively. Exceptions are election and referendum Sundays.

With these measures, SRF is continuing to focus on the News app as its main news channel. The app covers news events in Switzerland and abroad around the clock and provides the necessary information.

On third-party platforms, SRF will in future focus on the brands "SRF Impact", "Bounce" and "Studio 404" for the young audience. The financial and human resources will be pooled and distributed across these three brands as well as new streaming content for Play SRF.

This will allow the offering to be expanded and further developed with the aim of reaching the young target group even better. In return, SRF will relinquish the channels "SRF Mood" and "We, Myself & Why" as well as the formats "Das VARs", "Deep Dating", "Hypegenossen", "Pasta del Amore", "In Progress" and "Helvetia".

Federal decision forces SRG to make savings

As a result of the Federal Council's decision, SRG will only receive half of the cost-of-living adjustment on the media levy from 2025. As a result, SRG-wide cost-cutting measures amounting to CHF 50 million will be necessary - including a further CHF 6.3 million at SRF.

Additional measures are necessary due to the decline in commercial revenues. SRF can make all these savings in the coming year through one-off reductions in its offering, projects and support services. The reduction of individual jobs will be achieved through natural fluctuation wherever possible.