Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen

What Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen does

Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) is the German-language public service broadcasting division of SRG SSR, Switzerland's national broadcaster. Organized as a branch (Zweigniederlassung) of the parent SRG SSR foundation — itself overseen under Switzerland's Federal Act on Radio and Television — SRF traces its origins to 1931 (Radio Beromünster) and was established under the unified SRF brand in 2011, replacing the prior Radio DRS and Television DRS entities. SRF operates from its headquarters at Fernsehstrasse 1-4 in Zürich (Leutschenbach), with major studios in Basel (Meret Oppenheim Hochhaus) and Bern (SRF Studio Bern), supported by a regional correspondent network across German-speaking Switzerland.

The product surface spans three linear TV channels — SRF 1 (general entertainment), SRF zwei (younger/lifestyle audiences), and SRF info (news) — alongside six radio stations: Radio SRF 1, Radio SRF 2 Kultur, Radio SRF 3, Radio SRF 4 News, Radio SRF Musikwelle, and Radio SRF Virus. Distribution is multi-platform: the Play SRF streaming/mediathek platform offers live and on-demand video and audio including a digital archive of more than one million recordings, four dedicated mobile applications (SRF News, SRF Sport, SRF Meteo, Play SRF) on iOS and Android, social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, and TikTok, plus podcast distribution via Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Specialized sub-brands include SRF Kids, Kassensturz (consumer protection), Puls (health), Einstein (science), DOK (documentary), SRF Faktencheck (fact-checking), and SRF Meteo, with accessibility features such as Audiodeskription.

Commercial operations follow a public-broadcasting revenue model rather than subscription or freemium consumer pricing. Funding flows primarily from mandatory household and business media fees (Radio- und Fernsehgebühren) collected by Serafe AG, supplemented by advertising spots, sponsored content, and program sponsorships across TV and radio. Access to all SRF programming — linear, streaming, and mobile — is provided free of charge to audiences. The organization has 1,001-5,000 employees, reaches the German-speaking Swiss population daily across all channels, and is currently navigating 2027 cost-savings restructuring and a leadership transition following the departure of SRF Director Nathalie Wappler.

Name

Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen

Legal name

SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen, Zweigniederlassung der Schweizerischen Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft

Website

https://srf.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1931

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) is the German-language public service broadcaster of SRG SSR, operating three TV channels, six radio stations, the Play SRF streaming platform, and dedicated mobile apps serving German-speaking Switzerland, funded primarily through mandatory household media fees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Broadcasting

NAICS

Radio Broadcasting Stations (516110), Television Broadcasting Stations (516120), Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations (5161), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621)

SIC

Radio Broadcasting Stations (4832), Television Broadcasting Stations (4833)

akta.pro primary industry

Talk/News/Sports Radio Networks & Syndication (MPAIAEAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Radio Network Distribution & Programming Services (Syndicators, Format Providers) (MPAIAEAH)

Keywords

• Public broadcasting services
• Radio broadcasting
• Television broadcasting
• Streaming media platform
• News and cultural media

Headquarters

HQ city

Zürich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Media Fee / Billag Revenue: SRF operates as part of SRG SSR, Switzerland's public service broadcaster, funded primarily through mandatory media fees (Radio- und Fernsehgebühren) collected from households and businesses. This provides stable, subscription-independent funding for programming.
2. Advertising and Sponsoring: SRF generates commercial revenue through advertising spots, sponsored content, and program sponsorships on its TV and radio channels, offering contact quality and broad reach to advertisers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) is a public service broadcaster producing and distributing television and radio programming for German-speaking Switzerland. Its core offering comprises three television channels (SRF 1, SRF zwei, SRF info), six radio stations spanning news, culture, pop, folk, and youth segments, the Play SRF streaming platform offering live and on-demand access to over one million archived videos and audio recordings, and dedicated mobile applications for news, sports, weather, and general media consumption.

Product overview

Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) is the German-language division of the Swiss public broadcaster SRG SSR, operating a multi-platform media portfolio. The offering is structured as a unified public-service broadcasting platform organized across three TV channels (SRF 1, SRF zwei, SRF info), six radio stations (Radio SRF 1, Radio SRF 2 Kultur, Radio SRF 3, Radio SRF 4 News, Radio SRF Musikwelle, Radio SRF Virus), the Play SRF streaming platform (mediathek), four mobile applications (SRF News, SRF Sport, SRF Meteo, Play SRF), the SRF Medienportal for press information, and the SRF digital archive. The radio stations serve distinct audience segments (general news, culture, youth/pop, current affairs, folk music, and youth lifestyle). All content is also accessible via Play SRF as live streams and on-demand replays. Accessibility features include Audiodeskription for visually impaired viewers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Radio SRF 1: Primary radio station of SRF, broadcasting news, information, and general programming.
• Radio SRF 2 Kultur
• Radio SRF 3
• Radio SRF 4 News
• Radio SRF Musikwelle
• Radio SRF Virus
• SRF Sport App
• SRF Meteo App
• SRF News App
• Play SRF
• SRF Kids
• Hallo SRF!
• Kassensturz
• Puls
• Einstein
• DOK
• SRF Archiv
• dialog

Products and services

• Radio SRF 1 Primary radio station delivering news, background coverage, talk shows, and music programming to the German-speaking Swiss population throughout the day.
• Radio SRF 2 Kultur Cultural radio station focused on classical music, literature, theater, and in-depth cultural discourse and features for culturally-engaged audiences.
• Radio SRF 3 Youth- and pop-music-oriented radio station featuring contemporary hits, lifestyle content, and music-focused programming for younger adult listeners.
• Radio SRF 4 News News-focused radio station dedicated to political and economic news, offering programs such as HeuteMorgen, Rendez-vous, and Echo der Zeit for in-depth news consumers.
• Radio SRF Musikwelle Traditional folk music (Volksmusik) radio station covering yodeling, alphorn, Swiss folk music, Schlager, and related cultural programming for heritage-music audiences.
• Radio SRF Virus Youth-oriented radio station focused on pop culture, society, and contemporary music trends targeting a younger demographic audience.
• SRF 1 Primary television channel offering a broad mix of news, sports, documentaries, series, films, and entertainment programming for the general German-speaking Swiss audience.
• SRF zwei Secondary TV channel with a focus on younger audiences, lifestyle content, series, and alternative programming complementary to SRF 1.
• SRF info Information-focused TV channel providing rolling news coverage, background reports, and current affairs programming for news-seeking viewers.
• Play SRF Primary on-demand streaming and live TV/radio platform (mediathek) offering catch-up viewing and listening for all SRF TV and radio content, with access to over one million archived videos and audio recordings.
• SRF News App Mobile app providing reliable and independent news from Switzerland and worldwide, covering politics, business, sport, society, culture, and science.
• SRF Sport App Mobile app delivering live streams, live tickers, sports news, and live scores across football, ice hockey, tennis, cycling, and Formula 1.
• SRF Meteo App Mobile weather application providing weather forecasts for favorite locations, comparative forecasts, and precipitation radar for Switzerland.
• Play SRF App Mobile app for finding and watching favorite SRF TV and radio programs as live streams or on-demand replays.
• SRF Kids Dedicated children's platform offering SRF Kids News, educational programming, interactive content, and SRF school materials for younger audiences.
• SRF Meteo Meteorological service providing weather forecasts, alerts, precipitation radar, and climate information for Switzerland across broadcast and digital channels.
• SRF Archiv Digital archive containing over one million accessible videos and audio recordings from SRF's radio and TV broadcasting history.
• SRF Medienportal Press and media portal providing news, press releases, program announcements, and publication information for media professionals and external journalists.
• SRG-Login Shared single sign-on (SSO) account system operated by SRG SSR across RSI, RTR, RTS, SRF, and SWI platforms for accessing personalized services and restricted content.

Quantifiable outcome

• Daily reach across all platforms serving German-speaking Swiss population

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Hugofilm FeaturescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 February 2026Swiss production company that co-produced the documentary-fiction hybrid film 'Tristan Forever' with SRF and Arte G.E.I.E. The film follows French doctor Loran Bonnardot's 30-year obsession with Tristan da Cunha island.
• Arte G.E.I.E.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 February 2026European public service channel jointly operated by French and German broadcasters, co-producing 'Tristan Forever' with SRF and Hugofilm Features. The production drew equally from documentary and fiction funding sources.
• SRG SSR (Parent Organization)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSRF is the German-speaking unit of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), which also operates RTS (French), RSI (Italian), RTR (Romansh), SWI (Swissinfo), and coordinates services across all four Swiss language regions.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• ARD: Consortium of German regional public broadcasters jointly operating national TV, radio and digital services. Comparable in mandate, funding logic, regional structure and digital extension strategy.
• NHK: Japan's national public broadcaster, fee-funded, operating multi-channel TV and radio plus extensive digital services. Relevant benchmark for fee-funded broadcaster scale and digital transformation.
• BBC: The UK's public broadcaster and a global benchmark for fee-funded, charter-based multi-platform public service media. Comparable in mandate, scale and the challenge of migrating audiences to digital.
• ZDF: Germany's main public-service TV broadcaster, funded via household fees with a similar multi-channel, multi-platform model. Highly relevant comparison point for fee-funded broadcasting economics and scale.
• France Télévisions: France's national public TV broadcaster, state-funded, operating multiple channels and digital platforms. Comparable in continental European public-broadcaster operating model and mandate.

Regional players

• Deutsche Welle (DW): Germany's international public broadcaster. Comparable in editorial independence and public-mission mandate, though it focuses on international distribution rather than domestic market — analogous to SRF's SWI sister platform.

Direct peers

• ORF: Austria's public broadcaster, operating multiple TV and radio channels with fee-based funding. Closely comparable German-language peer with similar geographic, linguistic and scale characteristics to SRF.
• RTS (Radio Télévision Suisse): The French-language sister division of SRG SSR, operating parallel TV, radio and digital platforms for Suisse Romande. Most directly comparable to SRF given the shared parent, mandate, funding model and product portfolio.
• Arte G.E.I.E. Franco-German public service broadcaster focused on culture and documentaries. Comparable as a public-service co-production partner and as a peer in the European public broadcaster ecosystem.
• RSI (Radiotelevisione svizzera): The Italian-language sister division of SRG SSR, serving Svizzera Italiana with TV, radio and digital services under the same federal concession. Direct peer within the SRG family.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/srf
• YouTubeyoutube.com/srfmusik
• Facebookfacebook.com/srf.ch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/schweizer-radio-und-fernsehen
• Instagraminstagram.com/srfschweizerradioundfernsehen

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen