Following protests, the Bavarian Broadcasting Council has decided that the Bavarian classical radio station BR-Klassik will continue to be received on FM. In 2014, BR had announced a frequency swap with the youth channel Puls for 2018 and thus a migration to DAB+.
The German Music Council is satisfied with the decision. This solution ensures that the "excellent BR-Klassik program can be received in analogue and digital form by all sections of the population".
The background to the decision is a significantly changed environment compared to 2014: Bayern 3 is the market leader among 20-29-year-olds in Bavaria: When the decision was made in 2014 to broadcast Puls on FM instead of BR-Klassik in the future, there was a threat of a generation break across BR's program range.
Today, however, Bayern 3 has succeeded in becoming the market leader in the target group of 20 to 29-year-olds in Bavaria - thanks to the consistent realignment of Bayern 1 and Bayern 3, which was introduced in 2015 and has made Bayern 3 much younger in terms of its musical orientation and appeal.
This means that the FM range will be retained for the classical music audience, a significant proportion of which has yet to make the switch to digital radio.
