"Our little message" Why SRF's big sitcom bet failed with a crash
It was supposed to bring a breath of fresh air to the SRF program, but the audience didn't show up: "Unsere kleine Botschaft" (Our Little Message) doesn't convince with either wit or pace. What the end means - and what SRF wants to learn from it.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- The SRF sitcom "Unsere kleine Botschaft" was canceled after one season due to disappointing ratings of just 198,000 viewers per episode.
- The main criticisms were the shallow humor with clichés and a barely tangible plot about a fictional embassy in an undefined country.
- The slow pace of the narrative did not suit the sitcom format and did not appeal sufficiently to the intended broad audience.
The new SRF sitcom "Our Little Message" was launched with much fanfare and celebrated its premiere at this year's ZFF.
In an unspecified South American country, a family office community tries to cope with the absurd everyday life of a Swiss embassy. The team around Ambassador Bea (played by Susanne Kunz) navigates the turmoil of politics and diplomacy while juggling private challenges and relationships, as SRF advertised its new format.
However, the stories from "Unsere kleine Botschaft" did not appeal to viewers - and after just one season, SRF is now pulling the plug, as the TV magazine "Tele" writes. SRF fiction director Baptiste Planche explained the move to "Tele" as follows: "The foundation laid with the first season is not enough to make the series a lasting success."
Bitter words at the end of the new sitcom. After 20 years (!), SRF wanted to assert itself once again in this genre. The aim? Light, humorous fare for a broad audience.
But "Unsere kleine Botschaft" flopped: On average, it only reached 198,000 viewers per episode - a meagre 16 percent market share.
Will sitcoms have a harder time appealing to a broad audience in 2025? More likely. Swiss series such as "Fascht e Familie" (1994-1999) or "Mannezimmer" (1997-2001) brought SRF ratings highs. Sitcoms are now also fighting for viewers in the USA. Planche confirms: The sitcom approach has "not worked as hoped" here.
Despite the crash landing with TV viewers, SRF is sticking to the quality of the sitcom, as the company writes in response to an inquiry from blue News. This makes the question all the more intriguing: apart from the ratings, what were the reasons for discontinuing "Unsere kleine Botschaft" after just one season?
The SRF media office says: "We still stand behind the quality of the series. In the end, however, it's the audience that decides - and in this case they took a different position. The foundation that was laid with the audience in the first season is not enough to make the series a lasting success. We regret this, especially for the great creative team and the actors and actresses who put their heart and soul into the project.
And what role did streaming figures on SRF Play and the social media response play compared to the linear viewing figures?
"We look at the success across all playout channels - i.e. streaming, linear broadcast and audience response. The overall response is mixed. There are critical voices, but also a lot of positive feedback. This diversity of opinions shows that the series has definitely found its audience - even if not as broadly as we would have liked. We very much regret this, as we wanted to add a lighter, humorous component to the fiction portfolio."
Does the end of the series mean that SRF considers sitcoms in general to be difficult, or will the genre remain open?
"No further sitcoms are currently planned. However, we are constantly looking at new fictional projects that should inspire our audience. The genre remains fundamentally open."
Which elements of the series worked from SRF's point of view and where was potential for improvement seen?
"The sitcom approach didn't work as hoped in this case. We know that successful formats such as 'Tschugger' shape expectations of Swiss humor - yet different series pursue their own approaches and objectives. In retrospect, we would probably have had to increase the pace even more if we had aimed more consistently at a younger audience. But one thing remains clear to us: 'Our Little Message' had an outstanding cast."
blue News editor Carlotta Henggeler lists three reasons why she didn't find "Our Little Message" convincing.
Flat humor
"The series thrives on 'crude' humor ... clichés about South America ... as well as about the different ways of working at home and abroad," writes the platform "Whatthefilm.ch".
The SRF sitcom doesn't come off well in other media either, as "Watson.ch" writes: "'Our little message' - the title is cute ... but the series feels like our little punishment."
Fictitious country for a wishy-washy plot
The embassy is located in an unidentifiable, fictitious country. This is probably to film in a warehouse in Switzerland and keep costs down.
This gives the sitcom a rubbery, intangible outline. So the stories about the embassy turn out to be wishy-washy fiction from Takatuka Land, sorry, from Latin American no-man's land.
Want an example? The very first episode speaks volumes: Ambassador Bea is about to sign an important diplomatic agreement, but the surprise visit of her ex-partner, a Federal Councillor, throws everything into disarray. She suspects that the newly arrived deputy ambassador, clumsy Adrien, has been set up as a spy, while her chaotic team causes more problems than it solves. Fearing sabotage, Bea even hacks her ex's account - but is caught by the cyber defense. The embassy is heading straight for a diplomatic disaster.
The pace? Too much "countrywoman cuisine"
The narrative pace of "Our Little Embassy" is more in line with the SRF ratings hit "Die Landfrauenküche" than, for example, a crisp ZDF Neo series.
Presumably because the sitcom is intended for a broad TV audience - i.e. to appeal to senior citizens as well as teenagers or children. But the calculation doesn't work out.
