SRG under severe pressure Susanne Wille: "I have no time to lose"
SRG Director General Susanne Wille wants to strengthen the public service despite massive cuts. The focus is on digital transformation and targeted priorities - a balancing act for the future of the company.
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- SRG Director General Susanne Wille faces the challenge of saving 270 million francs in the coming years.
- Wille is planning a transformation with a focus on information, culture and education.
- And without sacrificing entertainment and sport; a central streaming platform called "Play Next" is to serve digital consumption habits.
- The halving initiative could force further savings
Susanne Wille (50) became the first woman to head SRG a month and a half ago. As the new Director General, the former presenter of "10 vor 10" faces an unprecedented challenge:
17 percent of the budget, around 270 million francs, must be saved. This is due to the reduction in radio and TV fees from CHF 335 to CHF 300 and falling advertising revenue.
At the same time, the halving initiative is on the horizon, which aims to reduce the fees further to 200 francs. In an interview with the "Tages Anzeiger", Suanne Wille gives an insight into her plans and how she will deal with the planned cuts.
Susanne Wille: "Honesty was important to me"
On her very first day at work, Wille informed employees about the impending cuts. "I drew up a plan over the summer and realized that there was no time to lose. Honesty was important to me, even if the news was tough."
The reactions from the workforce have been mixed, but Wille says she has also felt understanding: "Many people wrote to tell me it was difficult, but they appreciated the openness."
Exactly where savings will be made remains unclear for the time being. Susanne Wille emphasizes that cuts on the scale of 17% are only possible through a comprehensive transformation:
"We are looking at the entire company and asking ourselves: what does SRG want to be in the future?" The aim is not to make equal cuts in all areas, but to set specific priorities.
Focus on information, culture and education
Media Minister Albert Rösti is calling for SRG to focus more on information, culture and education in future and less on entertainment and sport.
However, Wille emphasizes the importance of entertainment and sport for a broad TV audience: "Entertainment can be used to inform - and vice versa. Sport brings people together and also attracts attention to popular sports."
To meet changing consumer habits, Susann Wille is planning a new streaming platform. Under the project name "Play Next", all content - from live broadcasts to fictional series - will be available on a central platform in future.
"People want to consume content digitally and with a time delay. We need to make our offering easier to find."
The challenges of the halving initiative
If the halving initiative is accepted, SRG could shrink drastically once again. "If the fees were to be reduced to CHF 200, we would be forced to save an additional CHF 170 million," says Wille in the Tages-Anzeiger. Such a cut would fundamentally change the character of SRG.
The new Director General is therefore trying to make the value of SRG clear to the population: "83% of Swiss people use an SRG service every week, with around half of young people doing so."
The political role of SRG
SRG is regularly accused of reporting in a politically one-sided manner. Susanne Wille refers to studies that attest to SRG's political neutrality.
She emphasizes SRG's role in a fragmented society: "Our aim is to create a service for everyone, because everyone pays for it." Nevertheless, she admits that it is difficult to win back the trust of critics, for example from the coronavirus era.
Despite the immense responsibility, the Director General is determined: "I knew what I was getting myself into. It's a wonderful task."
She does not see her celebrity from earlier times as a TV presenter as a decisive factor for success. "I will be judged on how I lead this company into the future."
The editor wrote this article with the help of AI.
