Again and again: A part of technological history is coming to an end for Switzerland’s radio providers – the transmission of their programs via ultra-short wave (VHF) will be discontinued. With the gradual shutdown of FM transmitters, the most important radio stations of the Swiss Radio and Television Company (SRG SSR), starting tomorrow, Tuesday and by the end of 2026, all FM radio programs throughout Switzerland will be shut down. past.
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SRG SSR is financed through the same general media levy as public broadcasters, but is formally organized as a private association. According to the company’s own information, a production that is internationally unique in the media world and includes a total of 11 main FM programs from the four language areas concerned, for example SRF 1, SRF 2 Kultur and SRF 3 in German-speaking Switzerland. In French-speaking Switzerland these are RTS Premiere or RTS Espace 2 and other programs.
All FM programs are migrating to the digital world, with all SRG SSR program offerings having been available for a long time. The focus is on DAB+ (Digital Audio Broadcast Plus). SRG Radio programs and a large number of national programs can also be accessed via the Internet or over DVB-C (Digital Video Broadcasting Cable) or DAB+ cable, used by UPC or Sunrise in their cable networks, This can also be done through this. Satellite (DVB-S) and international programs received digitally.
long way
Close cooperation between the Federal Office of Communications (BACOM) responsible for granting licenses, private radio stations and the SRG SSR began more than ten years ago regarding the planning of migration from FM to DAB+. The Digital Migration Working Group (AG Digimig) was formed to prepare for the switch from analog to digital radio.
Beginning of the end: Swiss Radio closes to FM stations on SRG SSRBut he also brought with him some back and forth. Originally, radio stations wanted to phase out FM broadcasting gradually from 2020 to 2024. There was no longer a consensus on this throughout the Swiss radio industry. Pressure on the federal government also came from a petition “Save FM”, started by entrepreneur and former “radio pirate” Roger Shavinsky, which was signed by over 60,000 people who are against shutting down FM transmitters. . In autumn 2023, the Swiss government, the Federal Council, finally decided to extend the VHF radio licenses, which expire in 2024, by another two years. This gave the radio industry the flexibility it wanted to successfully complete the migration process, Bakkom said at the time.
One of SRG SSR’s arguments for switching off is that only 226 DAB+ antennas would be required for nationwide coverage, while an additional 856 FM transmitters would then broadcast the programmes. By switching to DAB+, SRG SSR – already under pressure to make savings – is, according to its own information, saving around 15 million francs (16 million euros) per year. And for the relatively small number of users of FM reception alone, the Digimig Working Group considers the maintenance of FM antennas to be too costly and disproportionate. According to SRG, AG Digimig’s forecast at the time was that DAB+ would become the new radio standard: the remaining pure FM usage was stable at around 8 percent. In terms of proportion, FM is still used most frequently in cars at 33 percent, but digital use is now dominant here too. 31 percent of users listen to radio through FM and digital distribution. 12 percent people do not use radio at all.
Bakkom writes, since 2015, digital radio use has been growing steadily: radio use via the Internet (IP) is expected to grow from 26 percent in 2015 to 39 percent in 2023, meanwhile use via DAB+ has almost doubled (2015: 23 percent, 2023: 41 percent). In German-speaking Switzerland, DAB+ is the most used reception method with 43 percent, while in French-speaking Switzerland, IP leads with 41 percent.
As SRG SSR emphasizes, switching off FM also benefits the energy balance. By eliminating VHF signal distribution, “several gigawatt hours of electricity can be saved each year. Gray energy – for example for renewal and maintenance of antennas – can also be significantly reduced,” writes SRG SSR. DAB+ also causes significantly less electrosmog than FM.
Private radio stations broadcast for long periods of time
Of course, radio broadcasters don’t have to wait until the end of 2026, but they can shut down analog radio broadcasting even earlier. And from 2020 there is no longer any obligation to broadcast radio programs through FM. However, the 25 private radio stations of the VSP (Association of Swiss Private Radio) and the RRR (Romandie) still wish to use the open time window.
According to VSP president Nicola Bomio, they will have a gradual “fadeout process” that will last until the end of 2026. In an interview with Marco and the media magazine “Personal” he explained that the shutdown was a decision “which each company and each member of our association can take for themselves.” According to Bomio, some want to continue broadcasting on VHF until the end of 2026. In general, the association president sees this approach as a “bold and important step,” as he told the Keystone-SDA news agency in the summer of 2024. The VSP president said the shutdown would “encourage people to renew appliances.”
According to online retailer Digitec Galaxus, demand for adapters specifically designed to enable existing car radios to receive DAB+ literally soared, with sales increasing by 2,100 percent in October 24. According to Galaxus, if demand remains high, the devices may no longer be available, while classic DAB+ radios, with an increase of up to 270 percent, are more modest than adapters, but are still growing significantly. After all, according to the Federal Road Office, all tunnels on the national road network will soon be expanded for digital radio reception.
There are also plans to say goodbye to analog terrestrial radio reception in Germany. Schleswig-Holstein wants to become the first federal state to switch off VHF frequencies from mid-2025.
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