Observed Signal · Apr 30, 2026 · Programming Change · Source: persoenlich.com News · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
SRG: More Profile, More Audience
Swiss public broadcaster SRG is considering program realignments for its cultural radio services to better match listener behaviour after years of audience losses. Reports say SRF 2 Kultur may be transformed into a single national culture channel with regional windows; SRG has not denied plans and cites a need to align offerings with usage. The article highlights that RSI’s Rete Due, which retained a fuller, speech-and-music mix, consistently achieved higher reach than SRF 2 Kultur and Espace 2. SRG’s 2025 report shows differing speech shares across the stations and notes a sharp audience decline following the FM (UKW) shutdown at the end of 2024.
Changes to SRG's cultural radio programming and differing audience reach across Rete Due, SRF 2 Kultur and Espace 2 affect radio audiences and regional audio inventory—relevant to broadcasters, audio advertisers and media planners in Switzerland but not industry-shifting internationally.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- A SonntagsBlick report says SRF 2 Kultur could be abolished or merged into a national culture programme with regional windows; SRG has not denied these plans.
- RSI’s second radio programme Rete Due maintained a full programme with roughly equal speech and music and achieved broader usage than SRF 2 Kultur and Espace 2.
- According to SRG's 2025 report, Rete Due's speech/music balance was about 50/50, Espace 2's speech share ~20%, and SRF 2 Kultur's speech share ~40%.
- Reach figures reported: Rete Due 3.55%, SRF 2 Kultur 2.25%, Espace 2 1.16%; all three stations saw a strong drop in listeners after the UKW (FM) switch-off at the end of 2024.
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SRG: Cultural Content Often Broadcast at Off-Hours
Swiss public broadcaster SRG published a systematic analysis titled «Zwischen Jodeln, Jazz und Jugendliteratur» examining 4,890 editorial items from an artificially constructed week in 2025 across TV, audio/podcasts, online and social media. The study found 28.1% of editorial contributions had a cultural focus and that SRG both reports on and produces cultural content (40.8% of culture items are media-created events). Audio (radio and podcasts) carries the largest share of cultural airtime (51.5%), while television dedicates 15.9% of its schedule to culture — more than half of those TV culture items air in late-night slots. The report also highlights a gender imbalance (only ~one-third of represented persons are women) and a regional concentration of coverage in SRF’s German-speaking area. Suisseculture welcomed the study but called for continued monitoring and methodological refinements.
Criticism of SRF 2 Kultur's Programming and Strategy
An insider criticizes SRF 2 Kultur’s recent direction, attributing a halving of the channel’s market share over fifteen years to management errors and a lack of coherent strategy. Marco Meier, former DRS-2 programme director (2008–2010), told Kulturtipp that cuts to shows, the controversial FM/UKW shutdown and a weak digital strategy (rebranding familiar radio formats as 'digital') have harmed the station. Meier cited international examples (France Culture, Die Zeit, WoZ) showing that demanding cultural content can still find audiences. SRG General Director Susanne Wille has pledged to retain the station, but Meier says SRG lacks a viable concept and that an internal culture of fear suppresses public criticism. Published 2026-05-21.
SRG Regional Body Demands Full Programming in New Concession
SRG Bern Freiburg Wallis adopted a resolution on 7 May 2026 calling on the Swiss federal government and parliament to ensure the SRG's next broadcasting concession (effective 1 January 2029) allows a comprehensive public-service offering. The regional body rejects proposals to limit SRG's remit to information, culture and education, and insists sport and entertainment must remain part of the constitutional service mandate because they build reach and national cohesion. The resolution also calls for stronger regional anchoring, preservation of language-regional diversity, sufficient financing including inflation adjustments from 2029, and opposes the creation of new supervisory bodies with expanded sanctioning powers beyond the existing ombuds office and the Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television (UBI).
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