KiRaKa – the name is an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

formed from KInderRAdioKAnal – was a digital radio channel produced by

Westdeutscher Rundfunk Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln (''West German Broadcasting Cologne''; WDR, ) is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the conso ...

(WDR) in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is a specialist channel serving children aged 5 to 16. From 1 January 2016 until 30 November 2019 KiRaKa has broadcast 24 hours a day via cable,

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

, and

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in Germany, as well as worldwide on the Internet. Its programming at 19.05–20.00 daily as well as at 7.05–8.00 and 14.05–15.00 on Sundays is

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

WDR 5 WDR 5 is a German public radio station owned and operated by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). History WDR 5 went on air on October 7, 1991 on the former frequencies of WDR 1 WDR 1 was a German public radio station owned and operated by the ...

. A variety of children's programming is broadcast between 6.00 and 21.00 daily. Outside these hours KiRaKa played music aimed at the 11-to-16 age group in a segment called ''Nachteule'' (Night Owl).

Reception

Originally, KiRaKa was a single programme slot in WDR 5's daily schedule. However, on 29 May 2009 KiRaKa took over the distribution channels formerly used by WDR 2 Klassik. Today, the service is available across Germany via the Astra satellite network,

cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...

and

radio. It is also available internationally via the Internet and WDR's radio applications for

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s and tablets.

Awards

In September 2014, KiRaKa and another of WDR's radio stations, Funkhaus Europa, jointly won the award for Best Innovation at the 2014 German Radio Awards. The award was given to presenter-producers Tuba Tunçak and Mirjam von Jarzebowski for their collaboration on ''Kelebek im Konzert / Kelebek Konserde'' (Kelebek in Concert), a project aimed at introducing children to music from other cultures, starting at school level. It culminated in a live concert hosted by one German and one Turkish presenter, during which a variety of Eastern and Western music, as well as a fusion of the two, was played.

References

{{coord missing, North Rhine-Westphalia Westdeutscher Rundfunk Defunct radio stations in Germany Children's radio stations Radio stations established in 2006 Radio stations disestablished in 2019 2006 establishments in Germany 2019 disestablishments in Germany Mass media in Cologne Internet radio stations