Switzerland - Current situation - History
16.05.2019
Switzerland is one of Europe's leading DAB+ countries with more than 100 radio stations being broadcast on DAB+, many of them not only in a single linguistic region but throughout Switzerland.
Switzerland is on track to switch over from FM to DAB+ by 2024 at the latest - the FM switchoff date is anticipated to be announced in Zurich on 29 August 2019 at the Swiss Radio Days event.
A Digital Migration Working Group (DigiMig WG) has been created with representatives from the Swiss Association of Private Radios (Verband Schweizer Privatradios - VSP), the Union Romande des Radios Régionales (RRR), the Union of Non-Commercial Local Radios (Unikom), the SRG SSR, OFCOM, the car industry and other industry circles.
Swiss OFCOM launched an information campaign in 2017 to support the switchover. Since mid-2017 a range of information campaigns under the banner "Radio is changing" have been running on radio, television, the print media and billboards - details of the campaign can be seen at www.dabplus.ch.
Public broadcaster SSR SRG operates one platform in each of the four regions of the country. There are transmitter networks for private radio stations in German-speaking Switzerland (SwissMediaCast) and in French-speaking Switzerland (Romandie Médias SA).
On 13 May 2019 the Swiss regulatory and licensing body ComCom granted another licence for broadcasting DAB+ services in French-speaking Switzerland to DABCOM AG (IP worldcom / DIGRIS).
08.04.2019
From 2020 onwards the Swiss radio industry plans to gradually phase out analogue FM radio broadcasting and to use DAB+ instead as the main broadcasting technology. In June 2018, Switzerland's Digital Migration working group (DigiMig) called for the country to switch off FM services from 2021, with completion a year later, as a result of ongoing growth in digital radio services. The working group states that current DAB+ service gaps will be eliminated by 2021, with a new national timetable for switchover to be published in 2019.
In order to provide support for this switchover, the Swiss OFCOM launched an information campaign in 2017. Since mid-2017 a range of information campaigns under the banner "Radio is changing" have been running on radio, television, the print media and billboards. More information on DAB+ can be found on the DABPlus website.
The “Digital Migration” Working Group (DigiMig WG) has representatives from the Swiss Association of Private Radios (Verband Schweizer Privatradios - VSP), the Union Romande des Radios Régionales (RRR), the Union of Non-Commercial Local Radios (Unikom), the SRG SSR, OFCOM, the car industry and other industry circles.
Today, the public broadcaster SRG and most private radio stations broadcast their radio programme services via DAB+ in parallel with FM and some even broadcast exclusively in digital format.
Switzerland is on track to complete its digital switchover by 2024 at the latest. To that effect, the FM switchoff date is set to be revealed at the 2019 Swiss Radio Days taking place in Zurich on 29 August.
18.06.2018
From 2020 onwards the Swiss radio industry plans to gradually phase out analogue FM radio broadcasting and to use DAB+ instead as the main broadcasting technology. In June 2018, Switzerland's Digital Migration working group (DigiMig) called for the country to switch off FM services from 2021, with completion a year later, as a result of ongoing growth in digital radio services. The working group states that current DAB+ service gaps will be eliminated by 2021, with a new national timetable for switchover to be published in 2019.
In order to provide support for this switchover, the Swiss OFCOM launched an information campaign in 2017. Since mid-2017 a range of information campaigns under the banner "Radio is changing" have been running on radio, television, the print media and billboards. More information on DAB+ can be found on the DABPlus website.
The “Digital Migration” Working Group (DigiMig WG) has representatives from the Swiss Association of Private Radios (Verband Schweizer Privatradios - VSP), the Union Romande des Radios Régionales (RRR), the Union of Non-Commercial Local Radios (Unikom), the SRG SSR, OFCOM, the car industry and other industry circles.
Today, the public broadcaster SRG and most private radio stations broadcast their radio programme services via DAB+ in parallel with FM and some even broadcast exclusively in digital format.