On Tuesday the right wing governmental special committee on Public Service presented their vast report on the future of Public Service in Sweden. One major shift from the past almost 100 years is that the License Fee should be thrown over board in exchange of a tax constructed like the secular Swedish "Funeral Tax". This have made pundits joke that in Sweden you "can not avoid death, IRS or Swedish Television".

The three Public Service companies have strongly rejected the idea claiming that this will make the political system much more influential and that there is a risk that Public Service will be politicized which is very much NOT the tradition in Sweden.

The committee also suggested that internet and new platforms should be a natural part of the PSB distribution system but that content should be the same on all platforms. Furthermore there should be no limit to what PSB could deal with; the output should be as broad as possible and contain entertainment, sports and drama as well as news and cultural programs .

The three Swedish Public Service broadcasters will get a new charter in a few years time. Usually, at this time, a great discussion will start among politicians and media pundits regarding Public Service. The commercial media have been extremely active in their lobbying in trying to narrow the scope of Public Service activities. Neither the commercial sector nor Public Service is happy with the governmental report but the right wing government have declared that there will be changes.

See further the English summary of the report:

 Nya villkor för public service