The broadcasting corporation South Tyrol (RAS) was created in the year 1975 as public broadcasting service of the country South Tyrol and so it has a non-profit order to fulfil. The main task is to spread the radio and television programs from german- and also the ladin culture area within South Tyrol. The public broadcasting corporations of Austria (ORF), Germany (ARD and ZDF) and Switzerland (SRG) make their programs available free of charge. The analog television programs ORF1, ORF2 and ZDF were transmitted country-wide, in the western part and in the ladin valleys you could also receive SF1 and in the rest of the country ARD. With the switch over on DVB-T in November 2009, all of the mentioned programs have been transmittet in the whole country. The ORF radio broadcasting programs OE1, OE2, and OE3 are transmitted country-wide, Radio Rumantsch of the SRG is transmitted in the ladin valleys and in the Obervinschgau. The radio broadcasting programs of the Bavarian broadcast company Bayern 1, Bayern 2, Bayern 3, BR-Klassik and B5 aktuell, those of ORF OE1, OE2, OE3 and FM4 as well as the radio programs of SRG Radio Rumantsch and SwissJazz are already transmitted in digital technology (DAB = Digital Audio Broadcasting) and they are broadcast country-wide.
The future places RAS in front of further technical challenges. The most important change was switching from the analog to the digital transmission technology. DAB will increasingly spread during the next years. Besides there is an interest of the province to advance the development by building common transmitting stations which can be used by RAS, RAI, private broadcasters, national radio services and mobile operators. This work will help us to prevent the uncontrolled growth of transmitting stations.
An important basis of the activity of RAS was and is a constant corporation with the public broadcasting corporations ORF, ZDF, SRG and ARD, as well as the RAI, the Communication Ministry and a constructional dialogue with the private program broadcasters.