Switzerland will turn off the analog FM at the end of 2024

With a 90% penetration throughout the territory, Switzerland will replace the FM analog band with digital emissions in DAB+.

According to the latest figures, only 12% of listeners continue to listen to radio programs only through the FM while a 88% of users use digital reception either through DAB+emissions, DTT or the Internet.

In 2020, 42 of the 44 Swiss stations and the RSS had agreed an early and staggered closure of the FM stations. But the case took a political turn. The pioneer of private radios in Switzerland, Roger Schawinski, delivered in Bern a petition with more than 60,000 signatures against the interruption of the FM.

Now, the Council of the States, the Upper House of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland has finally given the green light to the blackout despite the fact that the reception in vehicles is not yet widespread and there are large mountainous areas without dab+coverage.

To date no European country, except Norway, has renounced the FM.