On 4 March 2018, Swiss voters decided on the popular initiative "Yes to abolishing radio and television licence fees" — known by its campaign name No Billag, after the company that then collected the fee. Launched by young activists from the Young SVP and Young FDP, with a libertarian leaning, the initiative was filed in December 2015 with nearly 112,000 valid signatures.
The text was radical: it barred the Confederation from levying any reception fee, prohibited it from subsidising radio or television channels, and called for the regular auctioning of broadcasting concessions. The SRG/SSR, three-quarters fee-funded (around 1.2 billion francs a year, then 451 francs per household), would have lost most of its resources — as would 34 private regional radio and TV stations receiving a share of the fee.
The campaign was exceptionally intense. The Federal Council and Parliament recommended rejection, without a counter-proposal. The SSR insisted no "plan B" could ensure its survival, while the initiators denounced a compulsory media tax from another era and promised the market would step in. Even before the vote, Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard announced a fee cut to 365 francs from 2019.
The verdict was unequivocal: the initiative was rejected by 71.6 percent of voters and by every canton, with a turnout of 54.8 percent — one of the highest of the decade.
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▲ Cantons that accepted
No canton accepted the initiative.
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▼ Cantons that rejected
All 26 cantons and half-cantons: Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Glarus, Zug, Fribourg, Solothurn, Basel-City, Basel-Country, Schaffhausen, Appenzell Outer Rhodes, Appenzell Inner Rhodes, St. Gallen, Graubünden, Aargau, Thurgau, Ticino, Vaud, Valais, Neuchâtel, Geneva, Jura.
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Actors and personalities
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▲ Yes camp
• Olivier Kessler (co-chair of the initiative committee)
• Young SVP and Young FDP (initiators)
• SVP (only governing party recommending a yes)
• SGV/USAM (Swiss trade association)
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▼ No camp
• Federal Council (Doris Leuthard, head of DETEC)
• SP, FDP, CVP, Greens, GLP, BDP (all opposed)
• Gilles Marchand (Director-General of the SSR)
• Cultural and sporting circles, private regional media
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Arguments and verdicts
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▲ Arguments FOR (Yes camp)
Even if rejected, the initiative will cut the bill « We have broken a taboo around the fee and its level » — Olivier Kessler, committee co-chair, March 2018 ✓ Argument confirmed The prediction came true beyond expectations: the fee fell from 451 francs to 365 francs in 2019, then to 335 francs in 2021; in 2024 the Federal Council decided a gradual reduction to 300 francs by 2029. Source : DETEC, OFCOM, Federal Council decisions 2017-2024 The SSR is a mammoth nothing will force to reform « Everyone must realise that not everyone is ready to pay over 400 francs a year in compulsory fees » — Olivier Kessler, 2017-2018 campaign ✗~ Partly refuted Largely refuted by the facts: as early as June 2018 the SSR launched a 100-million savings plan, followed by a 270-million programme with some 900 job cuts by 2029. Yet these reforms came under constant political and financial pressure, not spontaneously. Source : SRG SSR, Le Temps, RTS (2018-2025) The compulsory-fee model is doomed « Everyone should be able to decide which media to fund » — Official argumentation of the initiative committee ✗ Argument refuted Voters reaffirmed solidarity-based public-service funding twice: 71.6 percent no to No Billag in 2018, then rejection of the "200 francs is enough!" initiative in March 2026. The fee principle remains firmly anchored. Source : Federal Chancellery, vote results 2018 and 2026 |
▼ Arguments AGAINST (No camp)
The fee secures a public service in four languages « Without the fee, the SSR cannot continue in its current form » — Doris Leuthard, Federal Councillor, 2018 campaign ✓ Argument confirmed Keeping the fee did allow the SSR to keep broadcasting in the four national languages. Despite the cuts, SRF, RTS, RSI and RTR kept their core mission and financial solidarity between language regions was preserved. Source : SRG SSR, annual reports 2018-2025 Private regional media also depend on the fee « There is no plan B » — Gilles Marchand, SSR Director-General, 2017 ✓ Argument confirmed Confirmed: the 34 licensed private regional radio and TV stations kept receiving a share of the fee, which was even increased (81 million francs a year from 2019) to support regional news. Source : OFCOM, RTVO revision 2019 A no will allow a calm reform of public service « The status quo is not an option » — Doris Leuthard, vote night, 4 March 2018 ✗~ Partly refuted The reform happened, the calm did not: eight years of successive savings plans, a fee cut imposed by the Federal Council in 2024, and a new anti-SSR initiative ("200 francs is enough!") put to the vote in 2026. The debate over the scope of public service never ceased. Source : Federal Council, RTS, NZZ (2018-2026) |
Factual record
3 Confirmed | 0 Partly confirmed | 2 Partly refuted | 1 Refuted |
| ✓ | The fee has shrunk by a third From 451 francs in 2018, the levy fell to 365 francs in 2019 (when Serafe replaced Billag), then to 335 francs in 2021. In 2024 the Federal Council decided a gradual cut to 300 francs by 2029 and a phased exemption for companies. Source : DETEC, OFCOM, Federal Council |
| ~ | A leaner but still quadrilingual SSR The SSR strung together savings programmes: 100 million from 2019, then 270 million with around 900 job cuts announced by 2029. Output in the four national languages was maintained, but with markedly reduced means. Source : SRG SSR, RTS, Le Temps |
| ~ | A debate never closed The crushing 2018 no did not settle the public-service question: the "200 francs is enough!" initiative, filed in 2023, was rejected by voters on 8 March 2026. Funding the SSR remains one of the most contested issues in Swiss media policy. Source : Federal Chancellery, RTS, SRF |
Eight years on, the No Billag paradox is striking: the most bluntly rejected initiative of the decade is also among those that most durably transformed their target. The fee fell from 451 to 335 francs, heading for 300, and the SSR undertook unprecedented restructuring. On the facts, the losing camp obtained through pressure part of what its text failed to win at the ballot box.
The winning camp, too, saw its promises largely kept: the public broadcaster still exists, broadcasts in the four national languages, and the fee share still irrigates private regional radio and TV. The feared scenario of a media landscape left to the market alone did not materialise.
The promised "calm reform", by contrast, never happened: funding the public service remained a permanent battlefield, from the cap decided by the Federal Council to the "200 francs is enough!" initiative, rejected in March 2026. The 2018 vote did not close the debate; it institutionalised it.
The essential point remains: on the question asked — should every fee be abolished? — voters said no twice in eight years. But each no comes with a lower bill, as if the sovereign voted for the SSR while counting out its change.