The details are finally public: From October 4, 2022, TV viewers will no longer be able to avoid advertising by watching time-shifted TV shows. The forced commercials are delivered in different ways. For example, up to 7 seconds of advertisements may be shown every time you start watching time-shifted TV. You may also have to wait out another seven-second advertising break if you skip back to the beginning of the show. It is also possible for broadcasters to run up to 130 seconds of commercials every time you pause a time-shifted TV show. The same applies when you fast-forward through advertising breaks.
“A black day in the history of television”
“It is a shame that German and Swiss-German broadcasters are making TV time shifting so unattractive,” says moneyland.ch telecom expert Ralf Beyeler. “The fourth of October, 2022, is a black day in the history of Swiss television. I believe the forced advertising will annoy many customers to the point that they will simply terminate their TV plans,” adds Beyeler. “It is particularly important for TV broadcasters to not underestimate the competition from streaming services and media libraries in 2022.”
This is how you can avoid forced advertisements
There are several ways you can avoid having to watch forced advertisements:
- Change the TV channel: Private broadcasters are the primary proponents of forced commercial breaks. Public broadcasters like SRF, ARD, ZDF, and ORF will not use forced advertising.
- Get a TV plan without advertisements: Telecom companies will offer TV plans which do not have forced advertisements. But because of the high fees charged for advertisement-free time shifting, we can expect plans without forced commercials to be expensive. Alternatively, TV time shifting may be offered as an optional extra for an additional fee.
- Terminate your TV plan: You can find numerous shows in the media libraries of TV broadcasters and on streaming platforms, often without any advertisements at all.
New options from Sunrise, Swisscom, and Yallo
Sunrise, Swisscom, and Yallo have announced that they will offer options which customers who want to skip advertisements can add to their plan for an extra fee. These are the price tags for the options:
- Sunrise: Skip Ads option for 7.90 francs per month
- Swisscom: Replay Comfort option for 6.90 francs per month.
- Teleboy: Supplemental offer for 5 francs per month.
- Yallo: TV Comfort option for 7.95 francs per month.
Zattoo is taking a different approach. The ability to use TV time shifting to skip advertisements is included in its most expensive Ultimate plan by default. The plan’s price will remain unchanged at 20 francs per month.
What the offers from other service providers like Salt and Quickline will look like are still unknown.
“A markup of nearly eight francs more per month will likely considered a high markup for a lot of families. Many customers will likely consider terminating their TV plans,” believes Beyeler. “TV broadcasters have taken an exaggerated approach in their implementation of the new rules for time shifting.”
More on this topic:
Guide to using TV time shifting in Switzerland
Compare Swiss TV plans now
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