Sweden: Radio Protest Against Licence Fee

Rix Morronzoo, one of the radio stations that went off the air Thursday morning

Commercial radiostations in Sweden joined forces and stopped all their programmes for an hour on Thursday morning in protest against the licence fee the stations have to pay to the government.

They claim that "no other media in Sweden" is forced to pay such a fee and want to scrap it completely.

Currently, a total of 20 million crowns is paid by 89 commercial radio stations every year. A year ago, a study commissioned by the Government proposed to lower the licence fee significantly, but if this will actually happen, the Government has so far refused to say.

Swedish Radio is a public broadcaster and does not have to pay such a fee.

Source: 

• http://bit.ly/646nAK

Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia