SRF Sport

What is SRF Sport?

SRF Sport is the sport output of Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF), the unit of the public broadcaster SRG SSR for German-speaking Switzerland. Its web section, srf.ch/sport, lists Fussball, Eishockey, Tennis, Ski Alpin, Rad, Leichtathletik, Motorsport, Schwingen and Mehr Sport, with a section headed “Live & Resultate” and a Sport-App, and it lists the Sportpanorama programme on SRF zwei.^[1]

The SRG's statute is the Bundesgesetz über Radio und Fernsehen (RTVG) of 24 March 2006, SR 784.40, read in the German consolidation on fedlex.admin.ch “Stand am 1. Oktober 2024”. Article 23 reads: “Die SRG erbringt einen Dienst für die Allgemeinheit. Dabei strebt sie keinen Gewinn an.” Under Article 24(1) the SRG supplies the whole population with equivalent radio and television programmes “in den drei Amtssprachen” and promotes understanding, cohesion and exchange between the parts of the country, language communities, cultures and social groups. Article 25(1) reads: “Der Bundesrat erteilt der SRG eine Konzession.”^[2]

The concession of 29 August 2018, in the version “Stand 19. Juni 2024” that the Federal Office of Communications (BAKOM) serves, names among the SRG's regional companies the Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft der deutschen und rätoromanischen Schweiz. Its Article 43 states that it came into force on 1 January 2019, and that its term “wird bis zum 31. Dezember 2028 verlängert”.^[3]

What does SRF Sport cover?

Article 10(1) of the SRG concession reads: “Das Angebot im Bereich Sport beinhaltet in erster Linie die Berichterstattung über: a. Sportereignisse mit Beteiligung von schweizerischen Athletinnen und Athleten sowie schweizerischen Teams; b. bedeutende internationale Sportveranstaltungen in der Schweiz”. Its letter c adds the major sporting events listed in an annex to a UVEK ordinance of 5 October 2007. Article 10(2) reads: “Die SRG berücksichtigt in ihrem Angebot im Bereich Sport auch Breitensportarten und wenig verbreitete Sportarten.”^[3]

In football, the SRG announced on 14 May 2024, with the Swiss Football League and blue Sport, that for the seasons 2025/26 to 2029/30 it would show “ein Spiel pro Runde der höchsten Schweizer Liga im Männerfussball live”, highlights of all matches, and reporting rights for the Challenge League, on RSI, RTR, RTS and SRF. It added that it would itself produce two Super League matches and one Challenge League match per round.^[4]

The rest of the offer is visible in SRF's own audience review. For 2025 it lists among its most-watched programmes the Wengen downhill of 18 January, the quarter-final of the Swiss women's national team against Spain at the Women's EURO, the Women's EURO final and the ice hockey world championship final of 25 May.^[6]

How large is SRF Sport's audience?

Television and radio audiences in Switzerland are measured by Mediapulse AG für Medienforschung. Its publication for the first semester of 2026, 1 January to 30 June, counting persons aged 3 and over including guests, on all platforms, overnight +7, gives SRF 1 a 17.9 per cent share of viewing in German-speaking Switzerland. That is one semester's reading.^[5]

SRF's own review of 2025, published on 16 January 2026, gives its television channels a 33.4 per cent market share for the year. It reports that the Wengen downhill of 18 January 2025 was watched by 965,000 people on average and adds: “Der Marktanteil betrug 80,1 Prozent.” It gives 817,000 viewers and a 61.6 per cent share for the women's team's quarter-final against Spain, 889,000 and 56.4 per cent for the Women's EURO final, and 943,000 for the world championship ice hockey final against the United States.^[6] Those are SRF's own figures, and the review does not name their measurement source; each is one broadcast's reading.

Since when has SRF Sport existed?

The SRG dates itself to 1931. Its account of its history opens: “Founded in 1931 as the umbrella organisation for all radio companies, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (hence the abbreviation SRG)”.^[7] That is the SRG's own account. No dated source for the creation of the SRF unit itself was retrieved.

The SRG's funding was put to a popular vote in 2026. The federal department for the environment, transport, energy and communications (UVEK) records: “Am 8. März 2026 hat das Stimmvolk die Initiative «200 Franken sind genug!» mit 61,9 Prozent Nein-Stimmen abgelehnt.” It records that the Federal Council decided instead to reduce the household fee step by step to 300 francs by 2029, and that from 2027 only about 20 per cent of VAT-registered businesses would pay it.^[8] The SRG's own history page gives the same 61.9 per cent.^[7]

Why does SRF Sport matter in Switzerland's sport?

SRF is the SRG's unit for the German-speaking region. The SRG concession requires the SRG to report in the first place on events with Swiss athletes and teams and on major international events in Switzerland, and to include popular and less widespread sports.^[3] It is one of the four SRG units named in the announcement of Super League live rights to 2029/30.^[4] In the first semester of 2026 its first channel had the share of viewing given above.^[5]

Reporters Without Borders, in its 2026 index, ranks Switzerland 8th of 180. It writes that “Public service broadcasting, in particular, has strong safeguards against political interference in programming”, that in March 2026 “a clear majority of Swiss voters (62%) rejected a referendum proposal to halve the public broadcasting licence fee”, and that “the public broadcaster remains obliged to implement cost-cutting measures amounting to around 17% of its budget in the coming years”. Those are RSF's words and RSF's figures.^[9]