Swiss public broadcaster to bring back FM radio

SBC to broadcast on FM again in future. Keystone-SDA

The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) wants to broadcast its radio programmes via FM again. The corporation recently lost half a million listeners when it switched completely to DAB+ at the end of 2024. With the new legislation, a return is now possible.

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It is still unclear when the return will take place, the SBC, Swissinfo’s parent company, wrote in a press release on Thursday. The new framework conditions must first be approved by the government and the Federal Office of Communications.

Last Tuesday, the SBC website stated that SRF 1, 2, 3 and other formats would be back on FM from 2027 at the earliest.

Originally, FM was to be switched off at the end of 2026. The SBC had “led the way in solidarity by switching off by 2025 in order to pave the way for private radio stations”, the press release continued.

+ Read more: not everyone happy with the end of FM radio

Now that parliament has agreed to postpone the switch-off on Tuesday, new conditions have arisen. “It would only have made sense for SBC broadcasters to completely abandon broadcasting via FM if the entire industry had switched off FM by the end of 2026,” the SBC said.

Adapted from German by AI/ts

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