Sveriges Radio facts for kids
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| Type | Public broadcasting |
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| Country | Sweden |
| Availability | National |
| Headquarters | Radiohuset, Östermalm, Stockholm 59°20′5″N 18°6′5″E / 59.33472°N 18.10139°E |
| Owner | Foundation Management for SR, SVT, and UR |
| Launch date | 1 January 1925 (radio) 4 September 1956 (television) |
| Former names | AB Radiotjänst (1925–1957) |
Sveriges Radio AB (which means "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's main national radio broadcaster. It's a special kind of company owned by an independent group called a foundation. Before 2019, it was paid for by a special fee. Now, it gets its money from regular taxes. This means Sveriges Radio does not play any advertisements.
Contents
History of Sveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio started a long time ago, on January 1, 1925. It was first called AB Radiotjänst, which means "Radio Service Ltd". A group of newspaper companies and others created it. Their very first broadcast was a church service from St James's Church in Stockholm.
In 1957, the company officially changed its name to Sveriges Radio. For many years, Sveriges Radio was in charge of all radio and television in Sweden. This included hosting big events like the Eurovision Song Contest in 1975.
In 1979, Sveriges Radio changed how it was organized. It became the main company for four smaller companies:
- Swedish National Radio
- Swedish Local Radio
- Swedish Educational Broadcasting (for learning programs)
- Swedish Television (for TV shows)
But this setup changed again in 1993. The national and local radio companies joined back together. They took the original parent company's name: Sveriges Radio AB.
Radio Stations of Sveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio has many different stations. You can listen to them on FM radio, through digital radio (DAB), or online.
National Radio Channels
There are four main radio channels that you can listen to all over Sweden:
- P1: This channel focuses on news, culture, and discussions. It also has readings and documentaries. You won't hear much music here, except during a special summer program called Sommar.
- P2: This station plays classical music, folk music, jazz, and world music. It also has some programs in minority languages.
- P3: If you like popular music and comedy, P3 is for you! It's made for a younger audience.
- P4: This channel plays popular music, entertainment, and sports. It's generally for an older audience. P4 is special because it has 26 local stations. These stations play a mix of local and national programs.
Local Radio Stations
A big part of P4's programs are local. This means each of the 26 regions has its own local shows for most of the day. Some examples of these local P4 stations include:
- P4 Blekinge
- P4 Dalarna
- P4 Gotland
- P4 Stockholm
- P4 Värmland
- P4 Örebro
There are also a few other local radio stations available on FM in certain areas:
- Din gata 100,6 (in Malmö): This station mostly plays hip-hop and R&B music.
- SR P2 Musik (in Stockholm): This station is similar to P2 but plays more music. It doesn't have the minority language programs that P2 usually has.
- SR P6 89,6 (in Stockholm): This channel broadcasts in minority and foreign languages. It also plays the BBC World Service at night.
Digital Radio Channels
Sveriges Radio also offers several channels that you can listen to digitally (on DAB or online):
- P4 Plus: This channel plays a wide variety of popular music, both classic and new.
- Sveriges Radio Finska: This channel broadcasts in the Finnish and Meänkieli languages.
- Radioapans knattekanal: This is a special radio channel just for children!
- SR Sápmi: This channel is for the Sami languages.
- Ekot: This channel is dedicated to news.
SR International – Radio Sweden
SR International is the part of Sveriges Radio that broadcasts to other countries. It offers programs in several different languages:
- Arabic
- English
- Kurdish
- Persian
- Romani
- Russian (This service stopped on March 28, 2024.)
- Somali
- Tigrinya
- Ukrainian
SR International is different from the channels that broadcast in Finnish and Sami. Those languages have their own special digital channels within Sweden.
In 2010, Radio Sweden announced that it would stop broadcasting on shortwave and medium wave radio. This meant their international programs would only be available online. Some language programs for immigrants to Sweden were also stopped. However, new programs in Arabic, Somali, and Romani were started later that year.
On January 21, 2016, Radio Sweden also announced that its German and Russian language stations would close. This decision was made to focus more on broadcasting in minority languages within Sweden.
See also
In Spanish: Sveriges Radio para niños
- List of Swedish radio stations
- Åke Blomström Award
- Modern Times Group (a different, commercial broadcaster)
- Radiotjänst i Kiruna (the old fee agency)
- Sveriges Utbildningsradio
- Swedish Broadcasting Commission
- Teracom (the company that handles transmitters)
