The financial situation of the SSR stabilizes. The company ended the 2021 financial year with a positive operating profit of 10.3 million, thanks, it said, to the implementation of cost-cutting measures. Downside: revenue continues to decline.
In a year still marked by the pandemic, the programs have gained in attractiveness and made it possible to record higher commercial revenues than the previous year, details the SSR on Thursday. This is thanks to the very high penetration rates achieved by news information.
The downward trend in revenue continues, however, she adds. Compared to 2019, TV revenue (164.1 million francs) thus fell by 14.7 million.
New CTC
On the positive side, various sporting events, including the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, have resulted in increased costs, but also commercial revenues.
SSR and the Swiss Mass Media Union (SSM) have agreed on a new collective labor agreement (CLA), which will come into force on 1 January this year.
The Management Committee and the Board of Directors have also adopted a Regulation on the protection of personal integrity and a new staff policy. This is in the context of the dysfunctions in terms of harassment recently brought to light within the company.
Play Switzerland streaming platform
The Play Suisse streaming platform, launched in 2020, has been expanded. It now has more than 3,000 subtitled or dubbed content in national languages and 500,000 subscribers.
In its first year of existence, it rose to second place among the most watched streaming platforms in Switzerland. And one minute of use in four concerns content from a language region other than that of the user.
Within the framework of the Audiovisual Pact, the SSR continued to invest 32.5 million francs in independent Swiss cinematographic creation. If we add the resources allocated to new series and the German-speaking series “Tatort”, a total of 50 million have been paid to the film sector.
Fewer productions
The return to a certain normality has led to an increase in operating costs, which have partly returned to their normal level. They remained slightly lower than they were before the pandemic, however, as the number of productions remained at a lower level than normal.
The sale of two properties no longer needed in Zurich and Geneva generated one-off book profits of 38.4 million, which increased the result to 48.7 million. The SSR was thus able to strengthen its equity following two years of losses, she underlines.
If this exceptional income is not taken into account, the SSR closed the 2021 financial year with a positive operating result of 10.3 million francs.
Increase in the royalty share
Thanks to the cost reduction measures decided in 2018, systematically applied, the financial situation of the company continued to stabilize. The increase of 48.8 million net in the share of royalties devolved to the SSR also largely contributed to this.
As the disappearance of the old fee system (Billag) brought nine million less to the SSR, the positive effect of the revenue from the fee amounts to 39.8 million compared to the previous year.
New savings program
The transformation of the company will continue in 2022, with an increasingly restricted financial margin. While the savings program of 100 million launched in 2018 was able to be closed in 2020, the SSR had to, due to the downward trend in commercial income, set up a new savings program in October 2020. 50 million by 2024. This program is rigorously monitored.
This article has been published automatically. Source: ats
