Problem for Radiocontrol

Radio usage Simultaneous broadcasts on Virus and DRS 3 are a sticking point for Radiocontrol.Virus has changed its weekend programming: Instead of Saturdays as before, the youth station broadcasts the four-hour "Hit Parade" on Sundays since Mother's Day, which it has recently taken over simultaneously from DRS 3. What the Federal Office of Communications finds "problematic" and is therefore examining legally, poses a challenge for the SRG Research Service (FD): In the case of simultaneous broadcasting of the same content, the Radiocontrol system cannot always identify the station switched on by the listener. According to a preliminary agreement between Radio DRS and FD, the "Hitparade" usage of those listeners who listen to Virus or DRS 3 immediately before or after the broadcast is therefore assigned to the corresponding station. Listeners who tune in and out during the broadcast, however, are assigned to the "Hit Parade" producer DRS 3. Its reach and market share will hardly be affected by this, says Manuel Dähler, responsible for radio control at the FD. However, there is still no regulation at all for the two-hour program "Sounds", which DRS 3 wants to take over from Virus from June 2, also simultaneously and on weekdays. In this case, however, the allocation will be much more relevant. Because if the listeners tuning in and switching over were also assigned to the producer - in this case Virus - the ten "Sounds" hours per week could significantly and artificially boost the cable station's market shares. "We are looking for the scientifically and metrologically correct solution, we don't want any market distortion," say both Dähler and Ursula Kottmann, press spokeswoman for Radio DRS.
Markus Knöpfli