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Swiss public and private radio will in the future remain on only two vectors, DAB+ and IP. Swiss public radio switched off FM already at the start of 2025.

Private broadcasters in Switzerland may use FM only until the end of 2026.

Many specialists in radio broadcasting were surprised as this will position Switzerland as an island with a black hole for FM radio in the heart of Europe. Millions of Swiss and foreign older cars that continue to travel on Swiss roads have only FM/RDS radios on board. They can then no longer be alerted about any unexpected electricity power cuts and extreme traffic and weather conditions, unless they use DAB+ to FM radio adaptors in cars not equipped for DAB+, for which the majority will most likely not care at all. What has happened recently in Spain and Portugal with the sudden total electricity power failure has well demonstrated how important FM radio still is. For the authorities to alert the public and to keep it informed, FM radio still remains the most efficient technology so far available. When everything like in this particular case had broken down, only public FM broadcasting would normally continue to remain on air. At most transmitter sites public FM radio had always used for backup emergency power generators. For reception of emergency announcements all battery powered radio receivers have FM, but not yet all have DAB+. With FM broadcasting it was possible to keep the population in Spain and Portugal informed about the evolution during this extreme case of emergency. In Switzerland the obligatory media fee is the highest worldwide, CHF 335 per year. Only 1 CHF of this fee would have been sufficient to pay for the annual operating cost for the continuation of the first regional public radio programme on FM in each of the language regions. Strange that the Swiss authorities have not realised this.

Download the RDS Forum document R24/008_3 to get a better understanding about what makes sense and what not in this 10 yearlong development, driven by the Swiss regulator OFCOM/BAKOM.

The document contains technical expert information.

The RDS Forum has in addition for your information a frequently updated presentation that discusses the Switch-off FM radio evolution in Switzerland and the criticism surrounding it.