Susanne Wille

Susanne Wille will take on what is probably the most difficult job in Swiss broadcasting when she becomes director general of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) on 1 November – with responsibility for 7,000 staff around Switzerland. The public broadcaster comprises four regional companies: SRF for German-speaking, RTS for French-speaking, RSI for Italian-speaking and RTR for Romanshspeaking Switzerland. SRG SSR also includes the swissinfo website, which provides news and background reports from Switzerland in ten different languages for an international audience.

Funded by a licence fee, SRG SSR faces an uncertain future. The “CHF 200 is enough!” initiative is due to be put to voters in 2026, its right-wing supporters aiming to reduce the annual radio and television licence fee for private households from 335 to just 200 francs – and exempt companies from the levy entirely. Approval of the initiative could spell very frugal times ahead for SRG SSR, which hopes that Susanne Wille is the person to avert the worst and convince the electorate to vote no. Wille, who used to front television programmes and currently heads the SRG SSR cultural department, is a popular journalist best known for her work in German-speaking Switzerland. She said she wants a public broadcaster “that listens and belongs to everyone”. The 50-year-old has instant appeal and is considered favourably by those who want SRG SSR to remain a strong public broadcaster despite a drop in audience share. Yet the new director general has no option but to cut costs, given that the Federal Council wants to meet the SVP initiative halfway by reducing the SRG SSR licence fee to 300 francs. Wille will have some unpopular decisions to make.