According to a new report from Watson, catch-up or replay TV could soon become quite the luxury in Switzerland. By the end of 2022, all residents of Switzerland will have to pay extra for replay TV, after a compromise was agreed between Swiss telecom providers, the government, and broadcasters.

Swiss broadcasters angry over lost ad revenue

Today, seven-day catch-up is commonplace for most TV viewers in Switzerland, with users able to replay their favourite shows, and, importantly, skip all the advertisements. According to Watson, this has caused anger among TV stations in Switzerland, who complained of losing “hefty advertising” revenue because of people skipping past ad breaks.

According to the latest data from Watson, alongside the near-mandatory TV licence in Switzerland, 91 percent of residents own some form of television subscription. Of those that do subscribe, 74 percent have catch-up TV, and 48 percent of subscribers admit to using the service primarily to skip advertisements.

All TV subscription holders in Switzerland will have to pay for catch-up

Now, in a compromise between Swisscom, Sunrise and broadcasters, TV and internet providers will have to pay channels a surcharge for using catch-up, a cost they will then pass on to customers. Watson noted that in the future, catch-up TV will either become an additional charge in TV subscriptions or people will be forced to watch the ads when using the replay function.

Salt and Init7 were the first to charge for catch-up TV earlier in the year, with all other providers expected to follow suit by the end of 2022. How much each company will charge for the service is still unknown, but so far Salt has charged 3,95 Swiss francs extra a month for replay TV, while Init7 has incorporated the cost into their subscription packages.