Switzerland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 63 times since making its debut at the first contest in 1956, missing only four contests, in 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2003. Switzerland hosted the first contest in 1956 in Lugano, and won it. Switzerland won the contest again in 1988, with the 1989 contest being held in Lausanne.
Schweizer Radio: Radio der deutschen und rätoromanischen Schweiz was a company of SRG SSR which operated the public German-language radio stations of Switzerland from 1931 until 2012.
Schweizer Fernsehen is the German-language division of SRG SSR, in charge of production and distribution of television programmes in Switzerland for German-speaking Switzerland. It has its head office in Zürich. Its most viewed programme is Tagesschau (news), daily at 7:30 pm.
Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha, formerly known as Radio e Televisiun Rumantscha, is a Swiss broadcasting company which offers programming to Romansh-speakers in Switzerland and around the world.
SRF zwei is a Swiss German-language free-to-air television channel run under the public SRG SSR broadcasting group.
Astra Digital Radio (ADR) was a system used by SES for digital radio transmissions on the early Astra satellites, using the audio subcarrier frequencies of analogue television channels. It was introduced in 1995. As of February 2008, there were still 51 stations transmitting in this format. ADR ceased on 30 April 2012 when analogue broadcasts on Astra 19.2°E ended.
SRF info is a German-language Swiss television channel owned by Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen. The channel started trial broadcasts in May 1999 and regular broadcasts in January 2001.
The Swiss Hitparade is Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.
Television in Switzerland was introduced in 1950, with regular broadcasts commencing in 1953. People who live in Switzerland are required by law to pay a television licence fee, which is used to finance the public radio and television service SRG SSR. Since 1 January 2021, the Licence fee cost in all the linguistic regions of Switzerland is 355 CHF per year or 83.75 CHF quarterly, counting both radio and television licences. All licence fee payers are entitled under the law to services of equal quality. The fee is charged per household and not per person, with empty dwellings being exempt. The fee is determined by the Federal Council.
Radio SRF 1 is a Swiss radio channel, one of six operated by Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF), with its headquarters in Zürich.
Radio SRF 2 Kultur is one of six radio channels operated by Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF), the German-language division of the Swiss public-broadcasting organisation SRG SSR. First started in 1956 as DRS 2, the channel was relaunched under its present name on 16 December 2012.
Radio SRF 3 is the third radio station from Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF). The station was launched on 1 November 1983 at 00:01 hours in response to the licensing of private radio stations in Switzerland that was directed primarily for music to a younger audience, and was later repositioned to a "generalist young-adults" station in 1999 following the launch of DRS Virus that same year. The Station Broadcasts In Swiss-German, Except In News Programs, Which Are transmitted In Standard German.
Radio SRF Virus is a radio station from Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF). The station was launched in 1999 and is broadcast on cable and DAB+ in German-speaking Switzerland as well as throughout Europe on satellite and worldwide via the Internet.
Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen is a Swiss broadcasting company created on 1 January 2011 through the merger of radio company Schweizer Radio DRS and television company Schweizer Fernsehen (SF). The new business unit of SRG SSR became the largest electronic media house of German-speaking Switzerland. About 2,150 employees work for SRF in the four main studios in Basel, Bern, and Zürich.
Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Hunter of Stars" written and performed by Sebalter, which is the artistic name of singer Sebastiano Paù-Lessi. The Swiss entry for the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark was selected through the national final Die grosse Entscheidungs Show 2014, organised by the Swiss German speaking broadcaster Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) in collaboration with the other broadcasters part of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. Artists that were interested in entering the Swiss national final had the opportunity to apply to one of three open selections with defined submission periods organised by SRF together with the Swiss-Romansh broadcaster Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha (RTR), the Swiss-French broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) and/or the Swiss-Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione svizzera (RSI). A total of 18 entries were selected to advance to an "Expert Check" round; nine entries were selected from the SRF/RTR selection, six entries were selected from the RTS selection and three entries were selected from the RSI selection. The "Expert Check" was held on 30 November 2013 and involved three/four experts evaluating the live performances of the 18 entries and selecting six entries to advance to the televised national final—three artists and songs from the SRF/RTR candidates, two from the RTS candidates and one from the RSI candidates. The six finalists performed during the national final on 1 February 2014 where a combination of jury voting and public voting ultimately selected "Hunter of Stars" performed by Sebalter as the winner.
Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Time to Shine" written and performed by Mélanie René. The Swiss entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria was selected through the national final ESC 2015 – die Entscheidungsshow, organised by the Swiss German speaking broadcaster Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) in collaboration with the other broadcasters part of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. Artists that were interested in entering the Swiss national final had the opportunity to apply to one of three open selections with defined submission periods organised by SRF together with the Swiss-Romansh broadcaster Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha (RTR), the Swiss-French broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) and/or the Swiss-Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione svizzera (RSI). A total of 18 entries were selected to advance to an "Expert Check" round; nine entries were selected from the SRF/RTR selection, six entries were selected from the RTS selection and three entries were selected from the RSI selection. The "Expert Check" was held on 7 December 2014 at SRF Studio 5 in Zürich and involved five experts evaluating the live performances of the 18 entries and selecting six entries to advance to the televised national final—three artists and songs from the SRF/RTR candidates, two from the RTS candidates and one from the RSI candidates. The six finalists performed during the national final on 31 January 2015 where a combination of jury voting and public voting ultimately selected "Time to Shine" performed by Mélanie René as the winner.
Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "The Last of Our Kind" written by Christina Maria Rieder, Mike James, Jeff Dawson and Warne Livesey. The song was performed by Rykka, which is the artistic name of singer Christina Maria Rieder. The Swiss entry for the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden was selected through the national final ESC 2016 – die Entscheidungsshow, organised by the Swiss German speaking broadcaster Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) in collaboration with the other broadcasters part of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. Artists that were interested in entering the Swiss national final had the opportunity to apply to one of three open selections with defined submission periods organised by SRF together with the Swiss-Romansh broadcaster Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha (RTR), the Swiss-French broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) and/or the Swiss-Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione svizzera (RSI). A total of 19 entries were selected to advance to an "Expert Check" round; ten entries were selected from the SRF/RTR selection, six entries were selected from the RTS selection and three entries were selected from the RSI selection. The "Expert Check" was held on 6 December 2015 and involved four experts evaluating the live performances of the 19 entries and selecting six entries to advance to the televised national final—three artists and songs from the SRF/RTR candidates, two from the RTS candidates and one from the RSI candidates. The six finalists performed during the national final on 13 February 2016 where a combination of jury voting and public voting ultimately selected "The Last of Our Kind" performed by Rykka as the winner.
"Apollo" is an English-language song performed by Swiss band Timebelle. The song represented Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. It was written by Elias Näslin, Nicolas Günthardt, and Alessandra Günthardt. The song was released as a digital download on 10 March 2017.
Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with "Boys Do Cry" written by Marius Hügli and Martin Gallop. The song was performed by Marius Bear, which is the artistic name of singer Marius Hügli who was internally selected by the Swiss broadcaster Swiss Broadcasting Corporation to represent the nation at the 2022 contest. "Boys Do Cry" was presented to the public as the Swiss entry on 8 March 2022.
