With the “Free Radio Pinzgau” project, Salzburg’s Free Radio has been on air in Pinzgau and parts of Pongau since April 2024.
Salzburg (OTS) – Free radio can now also be received via antenna in the so-called “Innergebirg” – the southern part of the federal state of Salzburg. Radiofabrik Salzburg has been awarded the frequencies 97.3 and 107.5 MHz in Pinzgau by the Austrian Communications Authority. They have been in operation since April 2024 and can also be received in large parts of the Pongau. This means that two thirds of the state is covered by the station. However, the operational security of the entire station is at risk due to cost increases.
Around 300 volunteer broadcasters are currently producing a diverse program in the radio factory. This includes large parts of civil society and especially the cultural scene. Until now, these broadcasts could be heard on antennas in the north of the state – the city of Salzburg, Flachgau, Tennengau. The broadcasting area is now being expanded to include Pinzgau, where the radio factory in Zell am See has been operating an outdoor studio for several years. A growing group of radio makers goes on air here every Saturday from 3 p.m. under the title “Radio Pinzgau”. Now programs like Treffpunkt “Pinzgau” or “Wos sogga?” can not only be received via antenna in your own district, but also in the central area.
„This is a huge step for us
“, says Georg Wimmer, head of Radio Pinzgau, happily. “So far we have put our shows on the Internet as podcasts. Now we can be heard on the car radio as a matter of course. This will certainly make more people want to sit down in front of the microphone in our studio in Zell am See Limberg.” The aim, says Wimmer, is to make the diverse social life in the district audible on the radio. New broadcasters complete a one and a half day workshop at Radio Pinzgau and can then bring what is important to them to the radio. It can be about youth issues as well as about folk culture or a special record collection.
The scope of the program is growing in Pinzgau
The Musikum Zell am See, the Saalachtal climate and energy model region, the parent advice center Pepp and the Saalfelden education center already create their own programs as part of Radio Pinzgau. Last year alone there were workshops with around 150 young people from the Mittersill high school, the Bruck special school, the Zell am See vocational school and the HBLW Saalfelden, with which there is intensive cooperation. With Walk of Life there is a literary program in which authors from the region in particular have their say. “HERZzeit” recently launched a broadcast format for singles from the region.
The program does not provide for commercial advertising. The Radiofabrik – and therefore Radio Pinzgau – is a non-profit media project that is three-quarters financed by public funds such as the federal government’s “non-commercial broadcasting fund” NKRF and the city and state of Salzburg. Since 2022, the Radiofabrik has been working with the Pinzgau regional development department as part of a LEADER project to expand the outdoor studio in Zell am See. Planning and preparatory work started in 2021.
Problems at the radio factory could also endanger Radio Pinzgau in 2025.
The expansion is clouded by threatening, inflation-related cost increases for the entire station. “Together with our TV partner FS1, which is even more severely affected, we have already warned in 2023 about this development, which threatens the existence of Freie Rundfunk Salzburg,” says Alf Altendorf, commercial director of Radiofabrik. Unfortunately, this was ignored, particularly by the city of Salzburg, where the so-called “medium-term contracts” until 2026 were only concluded last September. With included calculations that the station would be insolvent within the contractual term without taking inflation into account.
There are now discussions with both local authorities, including the new city government with new majorities since the last elections. “It would be a great shame if in 2025 we had to stop projects like Radio Pinzgau, which we have worked on for years
“, says Altendorf.
Opening Radio Day
Nevertheless, there is joy about this milestone for the station and for the region. The official commissioning of the frequencies will take place with a Radio day in the studio in Zell am See Limberg on Saturday May 4th, 2024 celebrated.
Questions & Contact:
Georg Wimmer
g.wimmer@radiofabrik.at
+43 660 1642429
Alf Altendorf
a.altendorf@radiofabrik.at
+43 699 14301075