ARD alpha is a German

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...

television channel run by regional public-service broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk. Its programming consists of shows made by Bayerischer Rundfunk, as well as from ARD and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n broadcaster ORF. The channel was originally called ''BR-alpha, but'' was rebranded as ''ARD-alpha'' on 29 June 2014.

Programmes

ARD-alpha broadcasts educational programmes including; science,

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

, language learning, art and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

History

BR-alpha (1998-2014)

BR-alpha, as the station was originally called, started broadcasting on January 7, 1998. The station's programmes were originally broadcast in analog using the Astra satellite and were also distributed by cable networks. The schedule focused mainly on education and information. The channel began digital broadcasts via Astra in the summer of 1998. On 28 November 2000, the heads of the regional public broadcasters agreed to start cooperating with BR-alpha. On 30 September 2002, the channel started broadcasting ''Planet Wissen'' ("Planet Knowledge" in English), a general knowledge programme and a co-production of BR-alpha,

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 ...

and

Südwestrundfunk Südwestrundfunk (SWR; ''Southwest Broadcasting'') is a regional public broadcasting corporation serving the southwest of Germany , specifically the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The corporation has main offices ...

. The programme also has an extensive internet presence. Bavaria started digital terrestrial television broadcasts on 30 May 2005, as did BR-alpha. The channel's scheduled were revamped on 16 February 2008. Career guidance programmes, a magazine aimed at young people called ''freiraum'' were started, and programs ''W wie Wissen'' and Faszination Wissen were also added. On 9 August 2009, the youth program ''on3-südwild'' switched from Bavarian Television to BR-alpha. On 27 June 2010, Andreas Höfer won the Deutschen Kamerapreis (German Camera Award) in the category TV movie /docudrama for the BR-alpha film ''Empathie – Stumme Schreie'' (Empathy - Silent screams).

ARD alpha (since 2014)

The channel was renamed ARD alpha on 29 June 2014. The schedule was reorganised the previous day. BR is still responsible for financing and broadcasting the channel, but some programmes originally broadcast by other ARD member stations were added to ARD alpha's schedule. Cooperation with ORF (the Austrian public broadcaster) in the form of ''alpha-Österreich'' continued, and its television programs are now aired after 10 pm instead of in the early evening. Werner Reuss is head of ARD alpha.

Broadcast

SD broadcasting via satellite (Astra 19.2) stopped on 12 January 2021.

Audience share

Germany

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Television stations in Germany Mass media in Munich Television channels and stations established in 1998 Educational and instructional television channels ARD (broadcaster) ORF (broadcaster) German-language television stations Bayerischer Rundfunk