NZZ sells Radio BE 1

 The NZZ Group wants to sell Bern-based Radio BE 1. It is looking for a buyer, as Pepe Wiss, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the station, confirmed to the Sonntagszeitung. The reason for the sale of the station, which was launched in 1983 as Radio Förderband, is the Radio and Television Act (RTVA), which came into force on April 1 of this year. This only allows two radio licenses per publishing house. NZZ already owns Radio Aktuell in eastern Switzerland and Radio Pilatus in central Switzerland via its subsidiary Freie Presse Holding. In both regions, NZZ has stakes in the most important press houses. It remains to be seen who will buy the Bern station. BE 1 made a profit of around half a million francs last year and has the most listeners in the capital. Tamedia, publisher of the Sonntagszeitung, also has to sell a radio station due to the new regulations in the RTVA. It will sell the Basel local radio station Basilisk. NZZ and Tamedia have now agreed on a "joint organization of the sales process", as the Sonntagszeitung continues. BE1 and Basilisk are therefore up for sale individually or in a double pack. The media companies intend to write to potential buyers as early as next week.