Open letter regarding the vote on the «Halving Initiative» in March 2026

Zurich, December 2025

Dear musicians, cultural professionals, and users of SRG services
Dear Ms. Susanne Wille

In March 2026, we will vote on the halving initiative. We cannot take a stand early enough to defend ourselves against this attack on our public broadcaster. Among other things, the SRG is committed to providing independent information, representing the diversity of cultures in our country, building bridges between science and the public, and publicizing the concerns of minorities. It fulfills its mission in all parts of the country and in all national languages. In fulfilling its mandate, it is indispensable to our country in terms of maintaining democratic conditions and strengthening the sense of community. No commercially oriented private broadcaster driven by particular interests can even begin to fulfill the aforementioned tasks. We are called upon to express our solidarity with the SRG in discussions and at any public appearances in the coming period and to ensure that the aforementioned initiative is rejected.

This obligation is binding, regardless of the fact that the measures decided upon by SRG management in recent months must be protested in the strongest possible terms. The strategy of right-wing populists, which aims to undermine democratic conditions, includes attacks on independent media and the freedom of science and the arts. The cancellation of programs in the fields of literature and science, for example, and most recently in the field of music – «Musik unserer Zeit» (Music of Our Time) – represents a premature concession to the aforementioned right-wing extremist tendencies and a departure from key points set out in the public service remit.

The major cultural associations in Switzerland have so far refrained from making any public statements on these cuts – presumably with the intention of not weakening the campaign against the halving initiative by criticizing the SRG. However, given the current situation and future developments, a firm commitment to continued adequate funding for the SRG and criticism of decisions made at the top are two sides of the same coin. The SRG deserves our support because of its unique selling points. Its current strategy of adapting to market forces means disregarding the mandate that justifies adequate public funding in the first place. Instead of canceling programs such as «Wissenschaftsmagazin» and «Musik unserer Zeit,» the management's strategy in the referendum campaign should be to resolutely continue the dialogue between science and society and to carefully cultivate profound journalistic work in the cultural sector.

Market research may consider the listeners of Espace deux's musical and literary features to be a negligible quantity, as it does the die-hard fans of «Klassik-telefon» or the loyal audience of «Echo der Zeit» – to stick with the example of radio programs. With regard to the upcoming vote, it should not be forgotten that this regular audience is prepared to mobilize in support of the SRG.

The SRG must focus on resistance rather than adaptation, on its uniqueness—if it does not want to dig its own grave. It must urgently remember which core areas of its mandate it needs to protect and who in civil society are its comrades-in-arms, its allies in the fight against the halving initiative.

The signatories in alphabetical order

Heinrich Aerni, Ingrid Alexandre, Dieter Ammann

Ulrike Andersen, Monika Baer, Nik Bärtsch

Werner Bärtschi, André Baltensperger, Philip Bartels

Felix Baumann, Peter Baur, André Bellmont

Elisabeth Berger, Marino Bernasconi, Ramon Bischoff

William Blank, Dominik Blum, Bettina Boller

Hugo Bollschweiler, Thüring Bräm, Esther de Bros

Albin Brun, Catriona Bühler, Christiane Bult

Peggy Chew, Jessie Cox, Flurin Cuonz

Reto Cuonz, Therese Cuonz-Räz, Jürg Dähler

Claudio Danuser, Daniela Dolci, Mariana Doughty

Alfred Felder, Adrian Frey, Daniel Fueter

Thomas Gartmann, Bettina Ginsberg, Roger Girod

Katharina Gohl, Anna-Katharina Graf, Kathrin Graf

Ivo Haag, Jonas C. Haefeli, Viviane Hasler

Edu Haubensak, Doris Hauser, Fritz Hauser

Ruedi Häusermann, Hanna Helfenstein, Horst Hildebrandt

Christian Hilz, Jeannine Hirzel, Beat Hofstetter

Christoph Homberger, Raphael Immoos, Markus Jans

Mischa Kaeser, Eriko Kagawa, Vera Kappeler

Christoph Keller, Max E. Keller, Simone Keller

Burkhard Kinzler, Michael Kleiser, Christian Kobi

Canan Kocaay, Tamriko Kordzaia, Niklaus Kost

Herbert Kramis, Hanspeter Kriesi, Anne-May Krüger

Jojo Kunz, Annette Labusch, Matías Lanz

Leslie Leon, Heinrich Mätzener, Delia Mayer

Thomas Meyer, Roland Moser, Moritz Müllenbach

Marie-Louise Müller Choquard, Martin Neukom, Lucas Niggli

Anne-Catherine de Perrot, Stefka Perifanova, Peter Reidemeister

Felix Renggli, Nicola Romanò, Petra Ronner

Michel Roth, Johannes Rühl, Bettina Ruf

Edward Rushton, Nina Sahdeva, Claudine Saner

Urs Saner, Evangelos Sarafianos, Tobias Schabenberger

Sir András Schiff, Isabelle Schnöller, Oliver Schnyder

Muriel Schwarz, Meinrad Schweizer, Yuuko Shiokawa

Peter Siegwart, Rahel Sohn, Peter R. Solomon

Bruno Spoerri, Eleonor Stähli, Jacques Stähli

Urs Stäuble, Egidius Streiff, Monica Thommy

Germán Toro Pérez, Balz Trümpy, Saadet Türköz

Nina Ulli, Christoph Ullmann, Petra Vahle

Katharina Weber, Urs Weibel, Andreas Werner

Peter Wettstein, Maki Wiederkehr, Helena Winkelmann

René Wohlhauser, Maria Wolff, Alfred Zimmerlin, Samuel Zünd

 

PDF download of the original letter

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PS

«If 100,000 people want to listen to James Last and one person wants to listen to Anton Webern, you don't have to broadcast James Last for 100,000 hours and Webern for one hour; instead, you broadcast James Last for one hour and Anton Webern for one hour. Since all 100,000 can listen at the same time, all 100,000 Last fans get their money's worth, and so does the Webern fan. That's democracy.»

Urs Frauchiger (1936–2023)
Cellist and author, he was in charge of the music department at the Bern studio of Swiss German Radio from 1970 to 1977; from 1992 to 1997, he headed the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.