SRG sports chain

The SRG sports chain ( French SSR Chaine Sportive , Italian SSR Canale Sportivo ) was the virtual fourth national television chain operated by SRG SSR in the 1980s and 1990s . It mainly broadcast live sports. At that time, the SRG was operating three terrestrial television programs throughout Switzerland , one in each of the official languages, in German SF DRS , in French TSR and in Italian TSI . During a broadcast on the SRG sports chain , one of the two programs in a different language could no longer be received. The SRG sports chain started operations for the 1982 World Cup in Spain . The SRG sports chain was discontinued when Switzerland 4 , the fourth national television network, was launched in March 1995 . Since the summer of 1997, sports broadcasts have been broadcast on the second programs in each language region ( SRF two , RTS deux and RSI LA 2 ).

functionality

SRF sports chain

The SRG sports chain was broadcast alternately on one of the two different language SRG programs: in German-speaking Switzerland either on TSR or TSI, in French-speaking Switzerland on SF DRS or TSI and in Italian-speaking Switzerland on SF DRS or TSR. The original program could no longer be received during this time.

National chain

Another option for broadcasting sports programs was to use the so-called national chain to provide one of the three SRG programs in the other two language regions with its own language-regional commentary on the first audio channel . The original commentary could be heard on the 2nd audio channel. In the program columns of German-speaking Switzerland it was then: Transmission of the sports event XY on the TSR network with German commentary.

history

In the 1970s, live sports broadcasts increased significantly. This pleased the sports fans, but angered numerous viewers who had to forego their traditional programs. Therefore, the SRG, together with the PTT (now Swisscom ) responsible for the operation of the transmitters, looked for a cheap and quickly implementable solution. For cost and political reasons, they did not want to set up the fourth terrestrial broadcasting network for sports broadcasts. The idea of ​​a second Swiss television was not yet buried. A national terrestrial broadcasting chain would have been necessary for the launch of such a television program competing with SRG.

In the 1980s and 1990s, cable television networks were expanded across Switzerland. This made it possible for the SRG, together with the PTT, to feed the minority programs that failed during a sports chain to the cable networks via the GAZ network (community antenna feeder). However, only those television viewers who worked for one of the large cable network providers, e.g. B. Rediffusion (today UPC Switzerland ) were connected.

On September 25, 1993, S plus , SRG's fourth television program, went on air. S plus was supposed to offer a complementary television offering and was initially only available on cable networks. The sports chain was part of the S plus program. As a result, the language minorities no longer had to do without their program as long as they were connected to a cable network. The SRG sports chain continued to be broadcast terrestrially.

S plus was not a success and was replaced by Switzerland 4 on March 1, 1995 . With the start of Switzerland 4 , the SRG sports chain that went into operation 13 years ago also ended . Most of the sports broadcasts were to be found on the newly launched channel, which could be split into different language regions. The fourth broadcasting chain has been continuously expanded since the launch of S plus . Switzerland 4 could also be received terrestrially in almost all of Switzerland.

Even Switzerland 4 was not a success and in the summer of 1997 through the second programs each language region (is SRF two , RTS deux and RSI La 2 ) replaced.

Web links

• SRG sports chain: station logo
• SRG sports chain: On-Air Logo (1990s)
• SRF - It goes on: Sports chain, from June 15, 1982

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Special television channel for soccer world championship. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . January 29, 1982, p. 73 (only available in the NZZ archive)
2. ↑ ^{a b} The reception of minority programs during sports broadcasts. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. January 26, 1990, p. 79 (only available in the NZZ archive)
3. ^ National framework for regional content - Start of Switzerland 4. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. March 1, 1995, p. 15 (only available in the NZZ archive)