SBSR Radio leaves the air on Monday | middle

Radio SBSR, which has been on the air since 2016, on antennas in Lisbon and Porto (90.4, and 91.0, respectively), will broadcast its farewell next Monday. The radio, which was born associated, from the name, with the Super Book Super Rock Festival, has, over the past eight years, become a distinguished place for the promotion of independent music, with particular attention to names emerging on and without the Portuguese scene. Neglecting historical memory, in a network in which the author’s programs abound.

The end was already expected, since, in June, SBSR Radio and the Radio Festival, broadcast in Greater Porto on 94.8, both held until then by Música no Coração, were bought from businessman Luis Montes, by MediaLivre, owner of Música no Coração, Morning mailfrom the television channels CMTV and NewsNow, the latter of which has been broadcasting since June, as well as from newspapers register and Business magazine And magazines Saturday and TV guide. As announced at the time of the acquisition and as now confirmed to the public by Carlos Rodriguez, Managing Editor of MediaLivre, the purchase of the two radio stations is part of the group's project middle To ensure a “comprehensive communication strategy”: “We work with audiences digitally, in the press, on TV, and now on radio.” Thus, the new radio, which will be created jointly with SBSR and the Radio Festival, will be one of the components of this specific ecosystem.

At the present time, there is still no date for the start of the broadcast, and no details will be revealed about the identity and appearance of the new broadcaster. “The future is still being planned and we are dealing with legal licenses,” says Carlos Rodriguez. The mandatory regulatory process is currently underway.

Certainly, Carlos Rodriguez guarantees, this is the maintenance professionals from SBSR and the Radio Festival who want to do it on the new station. The specific project will include hiring more professionals. “Vocational training and expanding everyone’s skills will start soon and we will definitely need more people to achieve what we are planning.”

At the SBSR, preparations for the official farewell have been completed. “The last day of celebration, the burial is in New Orleans,” Tiago Castro, radio coordinator, tells PÚBLICO. “We're inviting musicians, programmers, press officers, people who helped build radio, because radio wasn't ours, it was everyone's.” The SBSR team wants the farewell to be an engagement. “We're putting out a call for people to stop by and ask for music. Records are needed.” No “crying and patting on the back.”

Working in “a very strong dialogue between what antenna management was like by the team and the brand [que baptizava a rádio]”, the station born in 2016 on the former Nostalgia Radio frequency was once thought of as “another vehicle for the Super Bock Super Rock Festival”. It has, over the years, become even more than that, as a result of the author's generous (award-winning) programming: Enchanted forestwritten by Thiago Castro, highlighted as Best Radio Program in the 2023 Autoris Award), is an interest in the past and present of independent music, grounded in rock, but without defined aesthetic boundaries ( Advanced rhythmic sciencesfrom Rapper Keso from Porto, he was a programming classic). There were weekly live concerts, in their studios, for emerging bands (they were there, on a radio broadcast). Viriato Vwhich first appeared on radio, for example). This, without forgetting to cover festivals across the country, paying special attention to those that flourish outside the main centres.

When the moment of farewell approaches, Thiago Castro prefers to look at what has been built. “Radio will end, but the work has been done. We have been able to prove that underground Exists and is alive.” The estate will remain “for now” on YouTube (we can find weekly concerts of Viriato VFor example) and in Website From SBSR. “Seize the opportunity to withdraw,” recommends Thiago Castro.

“SBSR is ending, but the radar and Antenna 3 remain, and the radio stations remain connected “All over the country,” says the radio host, who is also a musician by the name “Acid.” “And I hope that more open-minded, alternative radio stations will emerge on FM, who are not afraid to bet on what is different and give everyone a voice.” He also pointed out the following: “Captain Fausto was not born from scratch, Vaiyapraya was not born from scratch. They have to go through the radio stations in this way, they have to go through small stages to eventually reach a greater level. If we finish these stages and these radio stations, the artists will not have That sound anymore.”