Yesterday, five out of eight broadcast licences issued in Switzerland for DAB+ radio expired without their owners having launched the promised digital stations. According to the Klein Report, only three DAB+ stations – Open Broadcast, Radio Eviva and Swiss Mountain Holiday Radio – are now on-air, the latter having launched on yesterday’s deadline.
Two stations, Radio.ch and SoundCity, had already handed back their unused licences to Swiss media regulator Bakom. Now, Energy Zurich’s licence to provide a service named Radio For Youngsters, aimed at 10 to 14 year olds, has also expired. Egon Blatter, owner of Radio 105, said he had hoped that Energy Zurich’s proposed switch from FM to DAB in 2010 would have changed the whole audience for digital radio. He has “reluctantly” let the DAB+ licence expire of his proposed station DJ Radio Deluxe, as has Oliver Fluckiger’s RadioJay.
1 comment:
Grant,
I know that iBiquity is trying to get into Switzerland next year, but this doesn't look like a very good sign. It appears that digital radio is crumbling everywhere, and for good reason.
Greg
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