SRG regional journals on digital radio
Radio DRS's regional news programs will also be available via digital radio in the future. The Federal Council has granted the SRG permission to broadcast the programs regionally via a new DAB+ network.
The Federal Council has created the basis under licensing law for the SRG to eliminate the digital coverage gap and broadcast the regional journals via DAB+. In December 2012, operation is to begin in the Zurich-Aargau-Schaffhausen-Glarus area. By mid-2016, all sub-regions are to be served with the corresponding programs. This writes the Federal Office of Communications Bakom in a statement on Wednesday.
Last April, Bakom granted Swiss Media Cast SMC the radio license for a new DAB+ transmitter network. The network will consist of seven regional coverage areas in German-speaking Switzerland. This will enable both SRG and private radio stations to target their content to a regional audience via digital means.
Reduction of the analog dissemination obligation
Furthermore, the Federal Council has made it possible for cable network operators to reduce the SRG's mandatory analog TV channels in the medium term and to initiate a transition to purely digital broadcasting. The necessary legal basis for the reduction of private TV channels was already created in June 2012 with the revision of the Radio and Television Ordinance. Now the Federal Council has also amended the SRG license accordingly.
The Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) can gradually reduce the must-carry obligation in the analog sector if a high proportion of households use TV programs in digital form. In doing so, the Uvek must weigh up the interests of the audience and the cable network companies.
