Political Agreement Call Off FM Radio Switch-off in Bavaria

Strong industry opposition put an end to the media authority's plans

The threatened FM shutdown in Bavaria in 2025 is off the agenda, as evidenced by the coalition agreement signed on October 26, 2023 by the CSU and the Free Voters. The agreement states that they want to extend the FM frequencies until 2035. "FM will only be switched off when the financial viability of the private radio industry allows this," the parties write.

A big row about FM and DAB had arisen in the German state of Bavaria before the Media Days conference in Munich, despite the fact that the state is where DAB radio has the strongest position in Germany. Large parts of the commercial radio industry have protested against the authority's plans to begin shutting down FM as the current broadcasting license expires in 2025.

FM Radio Will Stay On in Norway

Local radio retains its current FM licenses until 2031

Today, national radio channels in Norway only broadcast on DAB, while FM is still the main platform for local radio. The government is now scrapping its previous proposal to re-announce all FM concessions in 2025 and proposes that the local radio stations may keep their concessions until 2031.  -  What will happen next with FM in Norway is still difficult to predict, but the experiences from the rest of the world suggest that FM will be retained for decades to come. No other countries have yet replaced FM with DAB.