Democracy direct: Parliament live on Swisscom TV

Berne, 24 May 2018

Starting this coming summer session, Swisscom TV will be broadcasting live streams of Parliamentary debates from the National Council and Council of States. The Replay function will also allow debates to be viewed later – a particular benefit for government employees or editors who deal with political affairs in their line of work.

Parliamentary Services have been streaming National Council and Council of States sessions live in the Internet for several years. From the start of this summer session on 28 May, these live streams will be widely accessible: Swisscom TV is to air the debates live from the National Council on programme slot 103 and from the Council of States on programme slot 104.

These new programmes are a perfect complement to the “News & Talk” theme world. Theme worlds collect past and future programmes, videos on demand and personal recordings – letting viewers tailor Swisscom TV to suit their tastes. As Dirk Wierzbitzki, Head of Products & Marketing and member of the Swisscom Group Executive Board explains, "When we rolled out this dedicated news offering there was increased demand for access to parliamentary debates. Now it is much easier and more convenient to stay abreast of parliamentary work – especially in schools and universities. This is particularly important in a direct democracy like Switzerland, of course." All debates and programmes will be available up to 7 days after airing. Swisscom is also currently considering adding parliamentary channels from other countries.