World Radio Geneva
Encyclopedia
World Radio Switzerland is the only national English-language radio station in Switzerland
.
Publicly owned, it broadcasts on 101.7 MHz FM
in the Lake Geneva
basin, plus on DAB
digital radio throughout the country. It can also be heard via the Eutelsat
"Hotbird" Satellite at 13° East (Frequency 11.526 GHz
horizontal), on cable and through live streaming on the WRS website, www.worldradio.ch.
(SBC) decided that an English-language radio station in Geneva would enhance its international reputation and provide a useful service to the international organizations established in the city. To that end, the SBC applied to the Federal Office of Communications for an FM frequency. The first application, made in 1992, was rejected. The application was resubmitted in 1995 and then granted. However, by that time the Federal Office of Communications made it clear that all new radio stations had to be commercial.
World Radio Geneva began broadcasting on June 25, 1996 and officially ended on October 12, 2007 after a change in the law integrated the radio station into the Swiss public service. World Radio Switzerland launched on November 5, 2007 as a public service broadcaster, available on digital radio across Switzerland.
WRS "brings Switzerland to the world and the world to Switzerland," according to a mission statement.
"We provide a unique mix of news, information, music and intelligent conversation," it says. "We always look for the highest common denominator. This is not being elitist. Just smart." The document adds that WRS provides radio for the "Anglosphere," a home for Anglophones, anglophiles and "Anglo-professionals" living in Switzerland. The station offers content that is "understandable, meaningful and useful to our listeners" and serves as a "knowledge center about Switzerland".
An online survey conducted in the spring of 2011 showed that 84 percent of respondents believe that WRS helps them better understand Switzerland as a whole. The results also found that 80 percent say that the radio station is useful in their lives, with more than half of the respondents saying it is "extremely useful".
With a state-funded annual budget of 4.1 million Swiss francs and a staff of approximately 20, in addition to a network of contributors, WRS produces three live programs per day, amounting to nine hours of regular daily broadcast content. Other output includes the Friday night in-house 'Sound Check' slot, and a mixture of content from partners, including the BBC, NPR and PRI, as well as music playlists.
WRS news, features and original programs are showcased and archived on the radio station's website, www.worldradio.ch, featuring audio podcasts, photo galleries and Internet links to other relevant websites. The website also hosts one of the most popular online English-language classified advertising services in Switzerland.
WRS enriches their knowledge of Switzerland and its place in today's world, and contributes to their understanding of the Swiss reality and its cultures. It brings added sense and meaning to living and working in Switzerland and acts as a bridge between the Swiss and English-speaking communities.
For its Swiss audience, as the only national English-speaking radio station, WRS offers a different point of view on Switzerland. The radio station provides a useful tool for Swiss to familiarize themselves with English.
WRS facilitates the integration of its English-speaking Swiss listeners into a global, connected world.
World Radio Switzerland brings Switzerland to its expatriate audience and the world to its Swiss listeners.
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Publicly owned, it broadcasts on 101.7 MHz FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
in the Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva or Lake Léman is a lake in Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe. 59.53 % of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland , and 40.47 % under France...
basin, plus on DAB
Digital audio broadcasting
Digital Audio Broadcasting is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in Europe. As of 2006, approximately 1,000 stations worldwide broadcast in the DAB format....
digital radio throughout the country. It can also be heard via the Eutelsat
Eutelsat
Eutelsat S.A. is a French-based satellite provider. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, it is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues.Eutelsat’s satellites...
"Hotbird" Satellite at 13° East (Frequency 11.526 GHz
Hertz
The hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of the sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications....
horizontal), on cable and through live streaming on the WRS website, www.worldradio.ch.
Administration
WRS is owned by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation and directly administered by Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS). The radio station's operations are headquartered at 2, passage de la Radio in Geneva 1205, Switzerland. In addition, WRS operates studios in Zurich, plus bureaux in Bern and Lausanne. WRS's director is Philippe Mottaz and the deputy director is Paige Revillard.History
In the late 1980s, the Swiss Broadcasting CorporationSRG SSR idée suisse
SRG SSR is the Swiss public broadcasting organisation, founded in 1931 as SRG-SSR. Headquartered in Bern, SRG SSR is a non-profit organisation, funded mainly through radio and television licence fees and making the remaining income from advertising and sponsorship.Switzerland's system of direct...
(SBC) decided that an English-language radio station in Geneva would enhance its international reputation and provide a useful service to the international organizations established in the city. To that end, the SBC applied to the Federal Office of Communications for an FM frequency. The first application, made in 1992, was rejected. The application was resubmitted in 1995 and then granted. However, by that time the Federal Office of Communications made it clear that all new radio stations had to be commercial.
World Radio Geneva began broadcasting on June 25, 1996 and officially ended on October 12, 2007 after a change in the law integrated the radio station into the Swiss public service. World Radio Switzerland launched on November 5, 2007 as a public service broadcaster, available on digital radio across Switzerland.
WRS "brings Switzerland to the world and the world to Switzerland," according to a mission statement.
"We provide a unique mix of news, information, music and intelligent conversation," it says. "We always look for the highest common denominator. This is not being elitist. Just smart." The document adds that WRS provides radio for the "Anglosphere," a home for Anglophones, anglophiles and "Anglo-professionals" living in Switzerland. The station offers content that is "understandable, meaningful and useful to our listeners" and serves as a "knowledge center about Switzerland".
An online survey conducted in the spring of 2011 showed that 84 percent of respondents believe that WRS helps them better understand Switzerland as a whole. The results also found that 80 percent say that the radio station is useful in their lives, with more than half of the respondents saying it is "extremely useful".
With a state-funded annual budget of 4.1 million Swiss francs and a staff of approximately 20, in addition to a network of contributors, WRS produces three live programs per day, amounting to nine hours of regular daily broadcast content. Other output includes the Friday night in-house 'Sound Check' slot, and a mixture of content from partners, including the BBC, NPR and PRI, as well as music playlists.
WRS news, features and original programs are showcased and archived on the radio station's website, www.worldradio.ch, featuring audio podcasts, photo galleries and Internet links to other relevant websites. The website also hosts one of the most popular online English-language classified advertising services in Switzerland.
WRS's Founding Mission Statement
World Radio Switzerland provides Anglophone, Anglophile and Anglo-professional communities in Switzerland with information, entertainment and music through quality programming.WRS enriches their knowledge of Switzerland and its place in today's world, and contributes to their understanding of the Swiss reality and its cultures. It brings added sense and meaning to living and working in Switzerland and acts as a bridge between the Swiss and English-speaking communities.
For its Swiss audience, as the only national English-speaking radio station, WRS offers a different point of view on Switzerland. The radio station provides a useful tool for Swiss to familiarize themselves with English.
WRS facilitates the integration of its English-speaking Swiss listeners into a global, connected world.
World Radio Switzerland brings Switzerland to its expatriate audience and the world to its Swiss listeners.
Daily Programs
WRS broadcasts the following programs every weekday:- The National: from 6:30 to 9am. Dave Goodman joins journalist Helena Humphrey in Geneva and Jo Fahy in Zurich to present a cross-country national morning broadcast with news and views from around Switzerland. The National team provides information and analysis about matters of importance across the country. In addition, a daily review of the Swiss news media keeps listeners attuned to the pulse of the country. National weather and traffic information, interspersed with hand-picked tunes, round out the bill of fare for WRS’s premier news and current affairs program.
- World Business Report: from 7:50 to 8am. London-based Henk Potts, of Barclays Wealth, analyzes the latest business news with Dave Goodman during The National.
- Sports Round-Up: from 7:20 to 7:30am during The National, Matthew Leighton reports on the latest news from the Swiss and international sporting arenas.
- The Mix: from 10am to 2pm with Susan Flory. Every weekday Flory serves up a smorgasbord of thematic segments, interviews, columns, and original information about Switzerland. The Mix’s dedicated telephone hotline, 084 067 89 10, allows listeners to call at any time of day to request a song or ask for advice from the program’s stable of experts on parenting, health and gardening. The show features such weekly programs as Motoring On, Dig It!, Kids in Mind, Health Matters, Lunch with WRS and Style File.
- The Wrap: from 4:30 to 7pm with Alex Helmick. The drive-home show showcases original stories and interviews from across the country. It aims to put the spotlight on the day’s events while previewing what lies ahead. Whose face will be gracing tomorrow’s front pages? What films are out this week? Where should I go this weekend? Featured weekly programs include Food Scout, It’s the Law, Movie Week, Arts CH, The Weekend and BBC’s The Strand.
Selected Weekly Programs
Among WRS's weekly programs:- Dig It!: Fridays at 1pm during The Mix and repeated on Saturdays at 11am. Hester Macdonald brings life to your garden and the garden to your life.
- Executive Life: Wednesdays at 6:30pm and repeated on Saturdays at 9am. François Clerc talks to the leaders at major companies established in Switzerland.
- Food Scout: Thursdays at 5:30pm and repeated on Fridays at 10:30am. Amy Eber traverses Switzerland in search of gourmet delights.
- Gadget Guru: Thursdays at 6:30pm and repeated on Saturdays at 8am. Ian the Gadget Guru makes sense of the latest consumer technology and other high-tech stuff.
- Health Matters: Tuesdays at 8:30am repeats on Saturdays at 2pm. Advice for living well. Dr. Michelle Wright addresses health concerns and questions.
- Kids in Mind: Fridays at 10:30am during The Mix and repeated on Saturdays at 9am. No jargon, no talking over your head — just good, solid, tested parenting advice from child psychotherapist Rachel Melville-Thomas.
- (Not So) Foreign Affairs: Mondays at 6:30pm and repeated on Sundays at 6pm. Making international relations accessible to ordinary people. WRS’s Philippe Mottaz chairs a discussion with regular panelists Daniel Warner, a Geneva-based foreign affairs expert, Stéphane Bussard from the foreign desk of Swiss daily newspaper Le Temps and writer Matthew Stevenson.
- Rewind: Fridays at 6:30pm and repeated on Sundays at 7pm. Jordan Davis looks back at the week’s political news with journalists from across Switzerland.
- Soundcheck: Fridays from 7 to 9pm. Laura Leishman presents the best new music and a few classic favorites that just don’t get enough airtime. Discover new artists from Switzerland and around the music world, plus the latest on upcoming concerts.
- Speed Read: Fridays at 6pm. Alex Helmick, host of The Wrap, discusses new English-language publications with literary experts from Switzerland’s leading English-language bookshops.
- Style File: Mondays at 1pm during The Mix and repeated on Sunday at 11am. Hansine Johnston presents the latest in style news and views. Find out the newest trends in fashion and design internationally, and where to locate them in Switzerland.
- The Connectors: Thursdays at 6:30pm during The Wrap. A team of expatriates offers advice and explores the everyday life of expats in Switzerland.
- The Traveller: Wednesdays at 5:30pm during The Wrap and repeating on Thursdays at 10:30 am. Celeste Neill seeks out the country's coolest attractions.