WRS' Morning Team: Mark Butcher, Katt Cullen, and Tay Kinnear
PRESS RELEASE FROM WRS: 15 April 2020
Switzerland’s only English language radio station offers businesses free advertising, but needs financial help to stay on-air. World Radio Switzerland (WRS) is offering free advertising to small businesses across the country in a unique response to the coronavirus.
Switzerland’s only fully English language radio station says it is supporting as many small businesses as possible during the lockdown. In return, the station's loyal audience have started making cash donations to make sure it stays on air.
Station manager and Breakfast Show host, Mark Butcher says, “We are a small business - and we understand the pressures the lockdown is putting on all of us. We are trying to do as much as we can to help.”
Over 25 small businesses have already taken WRS up on the offer. The companies just pay for the production of a professional radio commercial - and then WRS broadcasts it for free for 6 weeks. WRS had already provided over Fr. 100,000.- of free airtime support.
Butcher says, “Many of our larger advertisers have had to cancel or suspend their campaigns for the time being. We understand their reasons for that. But it now means we have plenty of space and we are offering it to small companies so we can help others.”
WRS is a small privately owned business itself and it relies completely on advertising for its revenue. The lockdown means that cash for the next few months will be very difficult - but an ongoing call for financial donations from listeners may help bridge some of the gap.
“We’re asking our listeners to help fund us through this, and to support our campaign to help small companies. If it works it’s a win-win situation – the businesses get support, and we can save Switzerland’s only English language broadcast service from going off-air.”
In just a week, WRS has raised almost Fr. 15,000.- from its listeners. “We are deeply humbled by the reaction from everyone”, says Butcher, “we hope it will help us to get through this difficult time and it shows that we are truly valued.” The station has applied for emergency government assistance, but hasn’t yet received a response.
WRS is headquartered in Geneva and broadcasts online and on DAB+ across all of the major cities and regions across Switzerland and has an estimated weekly audience of over 100,000.
WRS started as the Geneva-based station WRG in 1996, and was transferred from SRG/SSR ownership into private ownership in 2013.
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