Regulation
The Swedish parliament decides on all laws concerning broadcasting. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) regulates the frequency spectrum. The Swedish government regulates Public Service broadcasting. The Swedish Media Authority (Mediemyndigheten) regulates commercial radio and open access local radio (närradio).
There are three legal forms of FM radio in Sweden
| FM | DAB+ | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Service broadcasting | National | 4 | 7 out of 10 |
| Regional | 2 | 0 | |
| Commercial broadcasting | National | 3 | 24 out of 30 |
| Open access broadcasting | Local | ≈150 | – |
Public Service broadcasting
The government has awarded the non-profit public service broadcasting company Sveriges Radio (Sweden’s Radio) four national licences (FM 1, FM 2, FM 3 and FM 4) broadcasting four formats (P1, P2, P3 and P4). P4 broadcast regional programming in 24 regions for up to 10 hours per workday. The fourth network (FM 4) is also the designated emergency broadcasting network and thus has extra FM transmitters for redundancy and improved local coverage.
In addition, Sveriges Radio operates one local station in Stockholm (multilingual P6) and one local station in Malmö (youth oriented P3 Din Gata).
Commercial radio
There are three national commercial radio licences (FM 5, FM 6 and FM 7, each covering approx. 85-90 % of the population of Sweden), and 35 local commercial radio licences in 21 areas (equivalent to Sweden’s 21 counties).
The licences are valid for eight year periods with no chance for automatic prolongation. There are limitations on multiple ownership of licences in individual areas. The Swedish Broadcasting Authority awards the licenses according to certain criterias, such as a variety of formats and independent ownership. Each awarded license has to pay a fee, based on the size of the broadcasting area in terms of population and a 3 % share of the total annual commercial radio market.
There are no legal obligations to broadcast local programming on the local licences, but some local licences have been awarded to holders on the explicit commitment to broadcast local news.
The three national commercial radio licences are owned and operated by
- Bauer Media Group, broadcasting Mix Megapol
- Schibsted, broadcasting Radio Aftonbladet
- Viaplay Group, broadcasting RIX FM
The 35 local commercial radio licences in 21 areas are owned by
- NRJ Group, 20 licences, broadcasting NRJ
- Bauer Media Group, 6 licences, broadcasting Rockklassiker
- Viaplay Group, 5 licences, broadcasting Star FM on 4 licences and Bandit Rock on one licence
- Mad Men Media, 2 licences, broadcasting Retro FM
- Loogna Media, 1 licence, broadcasting Skärgårdsradion
- Prodraft, 1 licence, broadcasting Go Country
Open access local radio
Each of Sweden’s 290 local districts (kommuner/municipalities) have the right to have at least one open access (mostly low power) local radio license (närradio). There are no specific rules of content and no limitations to national syndication of contents and the same rules on commercial content as for commercial radio licenses, but only non-profit NGO’s may be awarded a license. However, as the licenses are open access, no-one can claim exclusivity to any license. Any NGO can apply for and will be awarded broadcasting hours to any license by the Swedish Media Authority. This fact makes these licenses in theory unattractive to commercial operators, although there are a large number of commercial 24/7 stations operating, mainly in or around larger cities. There are currently some 140 open access local radio licenses in operation across Sweden. More than half of these licenses are broadcasting fully commercial content, and about 10 of these licenses are simply re-broadcasting formats already available by local commercial licenses elsewhere in the country.
Digital radio
DAB+ is being used for digital audio broadcasting in Sweden. Sweden has been allocated four national DAB-networks, where each multiplex can carry up to 15 formats. The first network is a national single frequency network, the second network is divided in circa 20 areas (roughly corresponding to Sweden’s 21 counties), whereas the third and fourth networks are divided in 34 areas.
- The first network has been awarded (until December 2033) to the public service broadcasting company Sveriges Radio, currently broadcasting seven formats on the network.
- The second network is currently unused.
- The third and fourth networks have been designated to commercial broadcasting. Each multiplex can carry up to 15 national formats, but with a possibilty to broadcast regional programming, such as commercials, within each format in up to 34 local areas.
- Network 3: Mad Men Media (3 licences), Bauer Media (2 licences), NRJ Group (2 licences), Schibsted (1 licence) and Viaplay Group (1 licence)
- Network 4: Viaplay Group (11 licences), DB Media (2 licences), Loogna Media (1 licence) and Prodraft (1 licence)
The licence holders are collectivly responsible for constructing and expanding each network. Thus, Network 1 can only be heard in Stockholm, Uppsala, Gothenburg, Malmö and Luleå. Network 3 can only be heard in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. Network 4 on the other hand can be heard throughout the southern half of Sweden, reaching more than 65 % of the population.