In the small European principality of Liechtenstein, a significant shift in the media landscape is set to unfold as the nation’s public radio broadcaster prepares to go silent. As of Thursday, Radio Liechtenstein will stop transmitting, a repercussion of a popular referendum decision to terminate state financial backing without any feasible privatization plan emerging. The broadcaster announced on its website that at 6 p.m. on Thursday, its nearly three-decade long service to Liechtenstein’s airwaves would come to an end, calling it “the voice of Liechtenstein bowing out of the ether.”
The decision to halt the public funding of Radio Liechtenstein stems from an October referendum, where 55.4% of participants voted to abolish the legal framework securing state support for the station by the close of 2025. This movement was spearheaded by a small opposition party, which contended that the station absorbed over 70% of the media’s state funding, putting private media at a disadvantage. The party advocated for privatization, highlighting that the radio station was scheduled to receive nearly $4.5 million in public funds over a four-year span.
Despite the government’s previous warnings about the precarious nature of privatizing the station, its recent efforts to attract private investment proved unsuccessful. The government noted that in a country as small as Liechtenstein, a private radio station would face significant difficulties in securing enough advertising revenue to sustain itself. On Tuesday, officials acknowledged the failure to secure “concrete takeover offers from private investors with all the necessary commitments,” and conceded that it was “not feasible” to proceed with privatization by the deadline. With no political willingness to extend public funding beyond the deadline, the radio is expected to shut down in the early months of the following year.
In 2021, Radio Liechtenstein’s last recorded year of listener data, the station attracted an average daily audience of 11,400 individuals. This development marks a poignant moment for Liechtenstein, a small nation of approximately 39,000 residents nestled between its neighbors, Switzerland and Austria. The conclusion of Radio Liechtenstein marks the end of an era for a broadcaster that served as a cultural and informational beacon for the country.