Radio listener numbers have been in decline in Norway since the end of FM
Since the FM network was shut down, fewer and fewer people in Norway are listening to the radio. In July, not even half of all Norwegians tuned in to one of the roughly 30 digital stations now available.
According to official figures, the number of listeners fell sharply from around 68% in January 2017 to 48.2% in mid-July 2018. Norway was the first country in the world to switch off radio broadcasting via ultra-short wave last year. Only small local radio stations are still allowed to broadcast via FM.
In Switzerland, the switchover should be completed by 2024 at the latest. FM is to be gradually switched off by then. Many Norwegians are unhappy about the end of the FM era - although according to the government, more than 99 percent of households have secure digital reception. Car radios, however, had to be converted. There are also political calls to reactivate the FM network - especially from the right-wing populist Progress Party, which is part of the Norwegian government. (SDA)
In 2017, the agency Try Apt launched a campaign to get the Norwegian population in the mood for the digital radio age (Werbewoche.ch reported). As the latest figures show, the population is getting used to the end of FM far less quickly than hoped.
