The beginning of the end: end for Swiss radio SRG SSR FM stations

Over and out: a piece of technological history is coming to an end for radio broadcasters in Switzerland – The broadcasting of their programs via ultra-short wave (FM) will be discontinued. Tomorrow, Tuesday, the most important radio stations of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) will begin the gradual shutdown of FM transmitters; by the end of 2026, all FM radio stations throughout Switzerland will be a thing of the past.

SRG SSR is financed by general media levies in the same way as public broadcasters, but is formally organized as a private association. According to its own information, this is a unique construct in the international media world, comprising a total of 11 main FM channels in the four language regions, such as SRF 1, SRF 2 Kultur and SRF 3 in German-speaking Switzerland, RTS Première and RTS Espace 2 and other channels in French-speaking Switzerland.

All FM stations are migrating to the digital world, where all SRG SSR stations have been available for some time. The focus here is on DAB+ (Digital Audio Broadcast Plus). However, SRG's radio stations and a large number of national and international stations can also be received digitally via the Internet or on DVB-C (Digital Video Broadcasting Cable) or DAB+ Cable, which is used by UPC and Sunrise in its cable network, as well as via satellite (DVB-S).

A long road

Close cooperation between the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom), which is responsible for awarding licenses, private radio stations and SRG SSR began more than ten years ago with regard to planning the migration from FM to DAB+. The Digital Migration Working Group (AG DigiMig) was formed to prepare the switch from analog to digital radio.

However, this also involved some back and forth. Originally , the radio stations wanted to gradually give up FM broadcasting from 2020 to 2024. However, this was no longer a consensus in the Swiss radio industry as a whole. Pressure on the federal government also came from a petition entitled "Save FM", which was launched by entrepreneur and former "radio pirate" Roger Schawinski. It was signed by over 60,000 people who opposed the shutdown of FM transmitters. In the fall of 2023, the Swiss government, the Federal Council, finally decided to extend the FM radio licenses, which expire in 2024, for another two years. This gave the radio industry the desired flexibility to successfully complete the migration process, according to Bakom at the time.

One of SRG SSR's arguments for the switch-off is that it will then only need the 226 DAB+ antennas for nationwide coverage, while an additional 856 FM transmitters will broadcast the programs until then. With the switch to DAB+, SRG SSR – is already under pressure to save money - according to its own figures, around CHF 15 million per year (EUR 16 million). And for a relatively small number of users of FM reception alone, the DigiMig working group considers the maintenance of FM antennas to be too expensive and disproportionate. According to the SRG, the DigiMig working group's forecast at the time that DAB+ would become the new radio standard has been confirmed: the remaining FM-only usage is stagnating at around 8 percent. In terms of share, FM is still used most frequently in the car at 33%, but digital use now predominates here too. 31% of users listen to radio via FM and digital broadcasting. 12% do not use radio at all.

Digital radio use has grown steadily since 2015, writes Bakom: radio use via the internet (IP) has increased from 26% in 2015 to 39% in 2023, while use via DAB+ has almost doubled in this period (2015: 23%, 2023: 41%). In German-speaking Switzerland, DAB+ is the most frequently used reception channel with 43%, while in French-speaking Switzerland, IP is ahead with 41%.

As SRG SSR emphasizes, the FM switch-off will also benefit the energy balance. The elimination of FM signal distribution could "save several gigawatt hours of electricity per year. Grey energy –, for example for the 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 longer

Of course, radio broadcasters do not have to wait until the end of 2026, but can also discontinue analog radio broadcasting earlier. And since 2020, there is no longer an obligation to broadcast radio programs via FM anyway. However, the 25 private radio stations of the VSP (Association of Swiss Private Radio Stations) and RRR (French-speaking part of Switzerland) want to take advantage of the remaining time window.

According to Nicola Bomio, President of the VSP, there will be a gradual "fade-out process" until the end of 2026. In an interview with the MarCo and media magazine "persönlich", he explained that the shutdown is a decision "that each company and each member of our association can make for themselves. According to Bomio, some want to continue broadcasting on FM until the end of 2026. In general, the association president sees the move as a "courageous and important step", as he told the Keystone-SDA news agency in summer 2024. The switch-off will "encourage people to replace their equipment", according to the President of the VSP,

According to online retailer Digitec Galaxus, the demand for adapters in particular to make existing car radios DAB+-compatible literally exploded with a sales increase of up to 2100 percent in October 24. With demand remaining high, Galaxus reports that the devices are barely available, while classic DAB+ radios are growing at a more modest but still strong rate of up to 270% compared to adapters. After all, according to the Federal Roads Office, all tunnels on the national road network will soon be equipped for digital radio reception.

There are also plans in Germany to say goodbye to analog terrestrial radio reception. Schleswig-Holstein wants to be the first federal state to switch off FM frequencies from mid-2025. (nie)