Radio test regulations
The Rundfunkversuchsordnung (RVO for short) was an ordinance issued by the Swiss Federal Council in 1982 with the aim of allowing private radio and television stations to issue so-called radio trials in Switzerland. Until then, the Swiss radio and television company SRG held the monopoly in the production of television and radio in Switzerland. With the introduction of the RVO, the Federal Council reacted to the increasing number of radio piracy in Switzerland.
With the RVO, private media providers should now also have the opportunity to host electronic media. These attempts should be limited to local radio and TV projects. On the radio, 15 minutes of advertising were allowed per working day, while advertising was prohibited on the TV programs. In addition, the operators of the radio stations had to carry out an accompanying investigation during the five-year test phase. From this, the then Federal Transport and Energy Department EVED (today: DETEC ) hoped to find out about the effects of private radio programs on society. In November 1983 the Federal Council granted a total of 53 trial licenses to 36 local radio stations, 4 small radio trials, 7 TV trials and 3 screen services as well as a third SRG program. The various original provisions of the RVO have been relaxed several times due to the financial problems of many private local radio stations. The RVO was constitutionally and legally secured with the adoption of a constitutional article in 1984 and the first federal law on radio and television 1991 (RTVG 1991 for short). The RTVG came into force on April 1, 1992 after an almost ten-year trial phase of the RVO. The RVO became obsolete.