TV and radio
In Switzerland, television is still the most popular source of information and entertainment. While the public service broadcaster has a market share of over a third, foreign programming draws a large proportion of viewers. The radio and television markets have been liberalised, with over 90% of households now receiving digital television. FM broadcasting and devices have largely been replaced by Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB+).
Virtually all Swiss households own a television set. Although television is still the most popular source of information and entertainment, viewer numbers in Switzerland's three main language regions have hardly risen since the 1990s. Two thirds of the population watch TV for at least two hours on average every day.
The television broadcasting infrastructure is operated by around 300 national and local networks. In 2021, public service media entity SRG SSR had an audience share of almost 38% in German, French and Italian-speaking Switzerland. However French, German and Italian programmes broadcast by Switzerland's neighbours also draw a large share of audiences. Traditional TV still attracts significantly more viewers than YouTube and almost twice as many viewers as Netflix.
Radio: changing audience habits
Originally state-run, the television and radio sector has been progressively liberalised and privatised since the 1980s. The public service broadcaster still holds a 50% share of the radio market. Virtually the entire population over the age of 15 listens to the radio and more than half listens to the radio every day in preference to streamed content or podcasts. Radio listening increases with age, with people spending the most time listening to music.
The first radio cooperatives emerged in the mid-1920s, and in the early 1930s regional radio stations began broadcasting medium-wave programmes in German, French, Italian and Romansh. In the 1970s, a nationwide FM network was set up to replace the obsolete medium wave. DAB digital radio was introduced in 1999, with DAB+ gradually replacing FM radio since 2015.