The Swiss overwhelmingly rejected the abolition of subscription fees for public radio and television services today in a referendum.
Referendum organized at the request of the youth movement of the Liberal Radical Party.
All 26 cantons and semi-cantons rejected the initiative to amend the subscription law.
According to the final result of the referendum published by the Swiss news agency ATS, 71,6 percent of the Swiss voted against the proposal to cancel the subscription.
It is also no surprise that in response to the second question in the referendum, 84,1 percent of the Swiss voted to retain the VAT and the direct federal tax, which are the two main sources of income for the Swiss confederation.
After a long and intense campaign about the fate of television subscriptions, the turnout in the referendum was over 54 percent, which is significantly higher than the usual rate of about 45 percent in recent years.
In the canton of Zurich, where there are the most inhabitants, more than 71 percent of the voters who voted voted against the abolition of the subscription, while in the canton of Geneva, 75 percent voted against it.
The television subscription in Switzerland, one of the most expensive in Europe, is now 451 Swiss francs (392 euros) per year.
Next year, the subscription fee will be reduced to 365 francs, but everyone will have to pay it, even those who do not have a television or radio set, since the authorities have concluded that television and radio can be watched and listened to over the Internet.
The largest part of the subscription goes to the only national radio-television of the SSR, which broadcasts in four official languages (German, French, Italian and Romansh). Another 21 regional radio stations and 13 television stations meet the requirements for public service status, and will also receive a portion of the subscription fee.
RTV SSR, which employs 6.000 people, is financed 75 percent from the subscription, and if the subscription was canceled today, it would be in danger of ceasing its work.
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