– SSR will stop FM broadcasting by the end of the year
Listeners will benefit from improved sound quality as DAB+ digital radio replaces FM. “Outdated” technology costs too much.
Published today at 11:22 a.m.
Today, the share of people who listen to radio exclusively via FM stagnates at less than 10%.
Image Keystone / Mauritius Images / Nikky
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SSR will end FM broadcasting of the radio by the end of the year. The Swiss generally turn to DAB+ or IP (internet) broadcast technology to listen to the radio.
The SSR, private radio stations and the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) began planning the transition from FM to DAB+ around ten years ago. They anticipated that DAB+ would establish itself as the new radio standard and these predictions were confirmed, wrote the SSR in a press release on Thursday.
Today, the share of people who listen to radio exclusively via FM stagnates at less than 10%. Since 2020, the industry is no longer required to broadcast radio programs via this technology and maintaining three parallel broadcast technologies is expensive.
More efficient
The maintenance and renewal of broadcasting facilities are “costly” and now “disproportionate”, the SSR judges. In view of the company’s tense financial situation, particularly linked to the decline in its advertising revenue, new investments in “outdated” technology are no longer justifiable.
With DAB+ or IP technology, the public benefits from two digital reception possibilities, offering better sound quality and a greater choice of programs. These technologies are also more efficient in terms of energy and costs and allow information to be transmitted in the form of text and images.
To be able to receive DAB+, a compatible receiver or an adapter is necessary, recalls the SSR. New vehicles put into circulation have been equipped with them for several years. FM installations in motorway tunnels will also be deactivated by the end of the year, in favor of digital reception.
Last reprieve
Last October, the Federal Council decided to grant a final reprieve to FM until the end of 2026 by extending by two years the FM radiocommunication concessions expiring in 2024. Radio stations can also decide to interrupt analog broadcasting more early.
The industry had initially planned to switch off FM by the end of 2024 at the latest. This latest extension offers the possibility of successfully completing the process of migrating from FM to digital radio using individual solutions, with the necessary flexibility.
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