With just over 2 million inhabitants, Slovenia is one of the smaller Central European countries. The country stretches across several climate zones and has close historical and cultural ties with its neighbouring regions. This is due to its centuries-long affiliation with the Habsburg Empire. Today’s Slovenia was divided into several crown lands, such as Carniola, the Duchy of Carinthia and Styria. Before 1797, the coastal region was also part of the Republic of Venice and had close economic ties with the Serenissima.
Slovenia is therefore not only a very diverse country in terms of landscape, but also culturally, with close links to neighbouring Friuli, Carinthia and Styria. After the First World War, Slovenia belonged to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (SHS state) and then later to Yugoslavia. Slovenia became independent from Yugoslavia in 1991, joined the European Union in 2004 and the Schengen Agreement in 2007. European integration in particular has led to even closer cooperation and collaboration with neighbouring regions in Austria, Italy and Hungary, for example in the form of cross-border projects.
How it started
Broadcasting began in Slovenia in 1928 with the founding of Radio Ljubljana, the location for the MW programme was in Domžale north of the capital Ljubljana. In 1941, the transmitter was destroyed by the Italian army, and during the Second World War, what is now Slovenia was divided between the German Reich and Italy.
In communist Yugoslavia, Slovenia was one of the six constituent republics that together formed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Immediately after the end of the war, Radio Ljubljana functioned as a kind of ‘free radio’, reporting on the successes of the partisans, who gradually conquered large parts of the country. In the post-war years, Radio Ljubljana also launched a second (1951) and a third programme (1969). The second programme was given the name Val 202 in 1972, which it still bears today (the name comes from the MW frequency used, 1484 mhZ, which corresponds to a wavelength of 202. The public service organisation was called Radiotelevizija Ljubljana during the Yugoslavian era.
Finally, on 12 November 1960, the complete broadcasting centre at Krvavec was officially opened. From 1960, the first television programme was already broadcasting at 1 kW, and the radio relay to the Sljeme and Nanos transmitters was also improved.
Television was broadcast in Slovenia from 1957, when a transmitter was built on Krvavec north of Ljubljana, which initially transmitted the state programme from Belgrade. From 1971, TV Koper / Capodistria was also broadcast from the exposed location of Nanos near Postojna, which quickly became a popular television programme not only among the Italian minority in the Slovenian coastal region, but also in Friuli and Veneto.
There was also a kind of local radio programme from 1945, Radio Maribor, which was initially integrated into Radio Ljubljana. In addition, there was a counterpart to the TV programme of the same name, Radio Capodistria, which was intended to reach the Italian minority in Istria – but was also very popular in neighbouring Friuli and Veneto.
In 1982, Radio Maribor founded Radio MM2, a German-language programme that covered large parts of the eastern part of Slovenia from its Pohorje base and was also popular in Austria.
In general, Radiotelevizija Ljubljana made increasing efforts to reach the Slovenian-speaking population with numerous in-house productions and its own news in Slovenian (in the television programmes from 1968) and resisted, among other things, tendencies from Belgrade to broadcast even more programmes in Serbo-Croatian. Radiotelevizija Ljubljana was a member of the JRT, the Yugoslav Broadcasting Organisation (Jugoslovenska radiotelevizija).
With the increasing disintegration of Yugoslavia triggered by a gradual erosion of the legal equality of the constituent republics, primarily driven by Serbia, independence efforts also became increasingly strong in Slovenia in the 1980s. In 1990, Radiotelevizija Ljubljana was renamed Radiotelevizija Slovenija, or RTV Slovenija for short. Following Slovenian independence, RTV Slovenija left the JRT in 1992 and became an independent member of the EBU.
RTV Slovenija has kept the main organisation of radio programmes till today (see below). Besides FM, the common standard in Slovenia till today, DAB+ is becoming gradually more important. The first Multiplex, SLO DAB+ R1, is now (2025) covering most parts of the country with a constant investment in activating new transmitter sites. Besides this, there is the R2 Multiplex that is split in a version for the Western and one for the Eastern part of the country with a bit more regional composition of programmes. Additionally, Ljubljana has its own multiplex. More can be found on this site: DAB+ Alpe-Adria Region
Public service programmes today
RTV Slovenija kept its wide range of programmes also in independent Slovenia, today the following public service programmes are broadcast:
Prvi
Slovenia’s first programme focuses on current affairs reporting. The information programmes focus on current political developments, the economy, foreign policy, culture, etc. In addition, there are special programmes on certain topics or specific music genres.
Val 202
In contrast to Prvi, Val 202 offers a wide range of different music genres and generally has a higher proportion of music. There are also special programmes, sports broadcasts and special evening programmes.
ARS
ARS is the 3rd national radio programme and mainly broadcasts various music programmes in the field of classical music, but also offers information programmes on cultural topics.
Radio SI
Originally started with Radio MM2 as an offshoot of Radio Maribor and organised entirely in German, it developed over the years into Radio Slovenia International with broadcasts in English and German. In recent years, the broadcasting area of Radio SI has been greatly expanded beyond the previous broadcasting area around Maribor, and Radio SI now covers large parts of the country, especially long-distance roads and highways. Radio SI, which is still broadcast from the RTV Slovenija branch in Maribor, is now focussed on tourists and expats living in Slovenia, especially during the summer months, and regularly broadcasts traffic news in English and German as well as news. The other target group comprises an international audience; there are special programmes in English in the evenings, for example. Radio SI also broadcasts a colourful mix of music, which includes international music as well as Slovenian songs.
Radio Maribor
Radio Maribor is one of RTV Slovenija’s local programmes for the eastern parts of Slovenia, which basically includes the historical regions of Styria/Štajerska, Carinthia/Koroška and the Prekmurje region in the far east.
Radio Koper
Radio Koper is active in the coastal region (Primorska). Radio Koper began at a time when the region around the city of Koper was part of the Free Territory of Trieste. In addition to the programmes for the Italian-speaking population, Radio Koper was founded for the Slovenian-speaking population, with the first broadcast taking place on 24 May 1949. The Free Territory of Trieste was divided into two zones, Zone A around the city of Trieste and Zone B with large parts of Istria. All regions were traditionally multilingual. After both Italy and Yugoslavia tried to favour the respective language group in the respective zones, the Free Territory of Trieste was dissolved in 1953 after negotiations and protests, and Zone B fell to Yugoslavia – including the region around Koper.
Radio Koper originally broadcast in Slovenian, Croatian and Italian, and from 1954 to 1979 even predominantly in Italian. In 1979, Radio Capodistria was founded as a separate programme for the Italian minority, Radio Koper then only broadcast for a few hours for the time being, and it was only after 1992, with the move to a new studio in Nova Gorica, that a programme from 5 a.m. to midnight was created, and Prvi is still broadcast at night today.
Radio Capodistria
Radio Capodistria was founded in 1979 as an independent regional programme within RTV Slovenija and is primarily aimed at the Italian-speaking minority in Slovenia, which is still well represented in the towns of Koper/Capodistria, Izola/Isola and Piran/Pirano. Radio Capodistria broadcasts a broad mix of music, including current songs from the charts, and is therefore also popular in neighbouring Friuli Venezia Giulia.
MMR (Pomurski madžarski Radio)
In order to provide the Hungarian minority with up-to-date information, MMR has been broadcasting in eastern Slovenia since 1958, primarily in the Prekmurje region (these areas belonged to the Hungarian half of the empire during the Habsburg monarchy).
Private radio stations
During the Yugoslav period, there was no possibility to legally establish private radio stations as we understand them today. Apart from the state and local programmes, there was no possibility for private individuals to set up a radio station. This changed with Slovenia’s independence after 1991.
In the 1990s, private radio stations were gradually founded, some of which are still active today.
A distinction must be made between stations that broadcast nationwide and those that broadcast regionally, for example only in Ljubljana.
The nationwide programmes include Radio 1, which runs a mix of different styles of mainstream music. Hitradio Center also has an almost nationwide coverage, although it focusses on current songs from the charts and has a slightly younger appearance. In Ljubljana and Maribor, Radio City is a programme with a similar focus.
Another quasi-national programme is Radio Ognjišče, a Catholic-influenced programme with information programmes and various music programmes, which is aimed more at older listeners. Radio Aktual is another programme that is available in large parts of the country, for example in Ljubljana and Maribor. Best FM is now active in the area around Ljubljana and Maribor as well as in Celje. Rock Radio is active in similar areas.
All other radio programmes only broadcast locally, but some are now also broadcast nationwide via DAB+ – depending on whether they are included in the nationwide MUX or not. For more information related to DAB+ please see here: DAB+ Alpe-Adria Region
In the Ljubljana area, for example, there are numerous other programmes such as Radio Ekspres, Radio Veseljak, Radio Hit, etc. In the Maribor area, there is Radio Štajerski Val, Radio Net FM, Radio Ptuj and Radio Brezje.
Radio Capris and Primorski Val broadcast in the coastal region; Radio Antena, Radio Gorenc and Radio Kranj broadcast in Upper Carniola around the town of Kranj.
Despite Slovenia’s small size, a total of almost 40 private radio stations are currently active, some of which have survived to this day despite concentration efforts and some of which can build on a loyal audience. There is, however, also the tendency in Slovenia that bigger enterprises buy smaller radio stations and that consequently the variety of different radio programmes reduces gradually.