A group of students of the University of St. Gallen realized in May 2000 in a first pilot end phase, at that time under the label "Radio HerzSchlaG" a program consisting of daily 17 hours moderated program, hourly news, contributions about events and topics around the university. On January 19, 2001, the Stiftung Radio Herzschlag was founded as a sponsoring body, which toxic.fm was responsible for until 2010. On January 24, 2001, the founding team submitted a license application to the Federal Office of Communications ( OFCOM ) for an alternative VHF frequency in St. Gallen. In parallel, a second, extended pilot phase ran from January to April 2001. Sent at that time from an apartment directly opposite the main university building. Since the requested concession could not be granted until the end of the pilot phase, the planned broadcasting launch of 1 May 2001 had to be postponed. On 3 December 2001, the concession for a "public-cultural contrast program" was issued and toxic.fm in the newly acquired studio location on the Engelaustrasse could go on the air with the FM frequency 107.1 MHz in St. Gallen and the surrounding area.