I agree with all of the things you have written here. Yet, Swiss German, despite not being a unitary language, must be considered something more than a regional dialect. It's a "multi-regional" dialect, a "quasi-national" dialect. It is spoken on national TV programmes. Thus, it is in an ambiguous position. How can a dialect, which has different regional varieties, can be spoken in a national TV programme. Plus, it is spoken in every aspect of everyday life, and I think this is one requisite for it to be consiedered a language.