Switch off! In 2017, Norway will be first country to shut down FM radio

Norway is soon going to be the first country to shut down FM radio in 2017 and it’s going to be the end of an era. [caption id=“attachment_1799815” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Courtesy: Flickr[/caption] According to CBC, the reason is to save money — funds that will instead be spent on expanding offerings on digital radio. “We are saying goodbye to five national radio stations, but we gain the capacity for 40 stations,” Ole Torvmark, the head of Digital Radio Norway, explained to As It Happens host Carol Off. A statement  released this week by the Ministry of Culture confirms a switch-off date that was proposed by the Norwegian government  back in 2011. The government has finally decided that the country is capable of meeting all the requirements necessary for a smooth transition to digital. Sadly, Norway will start turning off FM radio on 11 January, 2017, and plans to stop transmission of the last FM signal to the country’s northernmost regions by 13 December that year. According to Hollywood Reporter, other Scandinavian countries as well as the UK are thought to be considering an FM switch-off by 2022. So guard your Spotify and Pandora accounts with your life because radio, as you know it, is going to change forever.