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The first radio transmission in Austria was made on April 1, 1923 in Vienna. The transmitter used had only 100 Watts of power, transmitting in a frequency of 500 kHz. Programming started with classical music, daily news were not allowed to be broadcast to protect the newspaper producers. However, near the end of the 1920s, the political influence started to affect the medium radio as well. After 1933, Germany started transmitting propaganda directed at Austria, which was countered by the local radio stations. After Austria joined Germany in 1938, the Austrian radio stations became part of the German radio network.
After the end of World War II, the studio was located inside the Soviet occupation zone, so the programming had a small but noticeable Soviet influence. The other three occupation forces started their own programming as well, which competed with each other causing a huge variety of different radio stations for that time.
After Austria became independent again in 1955, programming consisted of three national radio stations, transmitted via medium wave and FM. Because the government refused to raise the radio fees, the third program had to be closed due to lack of money in 1962. Only in 1966, after a new law was enacted, could programming restart with three programs -
History
Pre-WWII
The first radio transmission in Austria was made on April 1, 1923 in Vienna. The transmitter used had only 100 Watts of power, transmitting in a frequency of 500 kHz. Programming started with classical music, daily news were not allowed to be broadcast to protect the newspaper producers. However, near the end of the 1920s, the political influence started to affect the medium radio as well. After 1933, Germany started transmitting propaganda directed at Austria, which was countered by the local radio stations. After Austria joined Germany in 1938, the Austrian radio stations became part of the German radio network.
Post-WWII
After the end of World War II, the studio was located inside the Soviet occupation zone, so the programming had a small but noticeable Soviet influence. The other three occupation forces started their own programming as well, which competed with each other causing a huge variety of different radio stations for that time.
After Austria became independent again in 1955, programming consisted of three national radio stations, transmitted via medium wave and FM. Because the government refused to raise the radio fees, the third program had to be closed due to lack of money in 1962. Only in 1966, after a new law was enacted, could programming restart with three programs - Ă–1
Ă–sterreich 1 (Ă–1) is an Austrian radio station: one of the four national channels operated by Austria's public broadcaster ORF. It focuses on classical music and opera, jazz, documentaries and features, news, radio plays and dramas, ''Kabarett ...
, Ă–2
Ă–sterreich 2 (Ă–2; previously known as ''Ă–sterreich-Regional'', ''Ă–R'' until 1990) is the overall term used to refer the network of nine regional radio services provided by Austria's national public service broadcasting organization ORF.
Stat ...
and Ă–3.
Soon, the decision was made to abandon medium wave, not just due to the lack of frequencies in Austria, but also because the alpine terrain proved to be difficult to cover by medium wave. By 1976, only 80% of the population was covered by medium wave at daytime, at night this number fell to 65%. Therefore, all medium wave stations were shut off, with the exception of the frequency 1476 kHz from Vienna (Sendeanlage Bisamberg
The Sendeanlage Bisamberg ( Bisamberg transmission facility) was an Austrian medium wave transmission facility built in 1933 and demolished on February 24, 2010.
The original transmitter was destroyed at the end of World War II, but was later reb ...
) to cover Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''ÄŚesko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
. As well, a shortwave transmitter in Aldrans
Aldrans is a municipality in the Innsbruck-Land District, Tyrol (Austria) at an altitude of , which had an area of and 2,496 inhabitants as January 2015.
Geography
The village is on a highlands terrace southeast of Innsbruck, crossed by numerou ...
was used until the 80s to cover the deep Tyrolean valleys which couldn't be reached by medium wave or FM.
Especially Ă–3 was innovative with their pop music format, which was unusual in Europe in the 60s and 70s. It caused a huge popularity of the station, as well as the Austropop
Austropop is pop music from Austria, which came into use in the late 1960s, but had its heyday in the 1970s and early and up until the mid-1980s. Austropop comprises several musical styles, from traditional pop music to rock, and it also sometime ...
music genre. In 1979, Blue Danube Radio
Blue Danube Radio (BDR) was an English-language radio station broadcast by the Ă–sterreichischer Rundfunk (; ORF).
History
Blue Danube Radio went live on 23 August 1979, created principally for the United Nations community at UNO-City in Vien ...
was launched to target the various United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
personnel present in Austria.
In the 1980s, because commercial radio stations were still illegal, the first radio stations started to broadcast from foreign territory, especially South Tyrol
South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...
and the former Socialist countries in the east. In 1993, the European Union condemned Austria for forbidding commercial radio stations and thus violating free speech rights. In July 1993, the monopoly of Ă–sterreichischer Rundfunk
(ORF ; , ) is the national public broadcaster of Austria. Funded from a combination of television licence fee revenue and limited on-air advertising, ORF is the dominant player in the Austrian broadcast media. Austria was the last country in ...
was softened, allowing the launch of the first commercial radio stations in 1995. It took until 1997 for the ban on commercial radio stations to be lifted completely, and in 1998 several new stations launched in Austria.
Like in Germany, radio in Austria was completely separated by state, allowing radio stations to transmit in one state only. A law change 2001 allowed licenses for country-wide radio stations to be given out. So far, the only such license is owned by KroneHit.
See also
*List of radio stations in Austria and Liechtenstein
This is a list of radio stations operating in Austria. The Austrian regulatory agency (''Kommunikationsbehörde Austria'') acts as frequency assignment authority.
Austria Public broadcasting
* ORF (''Ă–sterreichischer Rundfunk'')
** Ă–sterreich 1
...
References