(; "West German Broadcasting Cologne"), shortened to WDR (), is a German

public-broadcasting Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...

institution based in the

Federal State A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governing status of the c ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

with its main office in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD. As well as contributing to the output of the national television channel , WDR produces the regional television service (formerly known as WDF and West3) and six regional radio networks.

History

Origins

The Westdeutsche Funkstunde AG (WEFAG) was established on 15 September 1924. There was a substantial purge of left wing staff following the

Nazi seizure of power The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He quickly rose t ...

in 1933. This included Ernst Hardt,

Hans Stein Hans Stein (7 December 1894, Cologne – 3 July 1941, Harrogate) was a German people, German broadcaster and political activist during the 1920s and 1930s. Stein initially studied Philosophy, linguistics and history, but he left his studies to vol ...

and Walter Stern. WDR was created in 1955, when

Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR; ''Northwest German Broadcasting'') was the organization responsible for public broadcasting in the German Federal States of Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia from 22 September ...

(NWDR) was split into

Norddeutscher Rundfunk (; "North German Broadcasting"), commonly shortened to NDR (), is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, ...

(NDR) – covering

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

, Schleswig-Holstein, and Hamburg – and Westdeutscher Rundfunk, responsible for North Rhine-Westphalia. WDR began broadcasting on two radio networks (one produced jointly with NDR) on 1 January 1956. WDR constitutes the most prominent example of regional broadcasting in Germany.

Directors

* 1926–1933: Ernst Hardt, director general of WERAG * 1933–1937: Heinrich Glasmeier, director general of "Reichssender Köln" * 1937–1941: Anton Winkelnkemper, director general of "Reichssender Köln" * 1942–1945: closed * 1945–1947: Max Burghardt, director general of NWDR * 1947–1961: Hanns Hartmann, director general of NWDR and since 1956 of WDR * 1961–1976:

Klaus von Bismarck Klaus von Bismarck (6 March 1912 – 22 May 1997) was the Director General of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (West German Broadcasting) from 1961 to 1976, and the president of the ARD broadcasting association in 1963-1964. He was also the president ...

* 1976–1985: Friedrich-Wilhelm von Sell * 1985–1995:

Friedrich Nowottny Friedrich Nowottny (born 16 May 1929) is a German television journalist. Life Nowottny worked as director of German broadcaster WDR. He lives in Swisttal-Buschhoven near Bonn. Awards * 1973: Goldene Kamera in category ''Politischer Journal ...

* 1995–2007:

Fritz Pleitgen Fritz Ferdinand Pleitgen (21 March 1938 – 15 September 2022) was a German television journalist and author. He was correspondent in Moscow, East Berlin and Washington. Pleitgen was a supporter of Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik. In 1988, Pleitgen b ...

* 2007–2013:

Monika Piel Monika Piel (born 9 April 1951 in Bensberg) is a German television journalist and radio journalist. Life and career Piel studied Business economics in Cologne. Afterwards she studied Jura and Oriental Studies without graduating. During her ...

* since 1 July 2013:

Tom Buhrow Tom Buhrow (born 29 September 1958) is a German journalist who served as director general of public broadcaster WDR from 2013 to 2024. In this capacity, he also served as chair of the ARD from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021 and from 4 Augus ...

Logo history

File:WDR 1956 Logo.svg, WDR's first and original logo used from 1956 to 1970. File:Wdr logo 1970 1988.svg, WDR's second and former logo used from 1970 to 1994. File:WDR Dachmarke (bis 2013).svg, WDR's third and previous logo used from 1994 to 2012. File:WDR Dachmarke.svg, WDR's fourth and current logo since 2012.

Funding

WDR is in part funded by the limited sale of on-air commercial advertising time; however, its principal source of income is the revenue derived from viewer and listener

licence fee A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts or the possession of a television set. In some countries, a licence is also required to own a radio or rece ...

s. As of 2023 the monthly fee due from each household for radio and television reception was €18.36. These fees are collected not directly by WDR but by a joint agency of ARD (and its member institutions),

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

, and

Deutschlandradio Deutschlandradio (DLR; ) is a national German public radio broadcaster. History ''Deutschlandfunk'' was originally a West German news radio targeting listeners within West Germany as well as in neighbouring countries, ''Deutschlandfunk Kultur'' ...

Services

Television

WDR began its regional television service, Westdeutsches Fernsehen (WDF), on 17 December 1965. On 27 August 1967, when West Germany broadcast its first color TV program, WDF used a live broadcast originating from a Bosch

outside broadcast Outside or Outsides may refer to: * Wilderness Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * Outside (magazine), ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, theatre and TV * Outside TV (formerly RSN Television), a televi ...

van to start broadcasting in color. In 1988, the channel was renamed West 3; since 1994, it has been known as

WDR Fernsehen WDR Fernsehen is a German free-to-air television network owned and operated by Westdeutscher Rundfunk and serving North Rhine-Westphalia. It is one of the seven regional "third programmes" television stations that are offered within the federal ...

. While the programmes are mainly run from their

headquarters, they also have a number of sub-regional studios contributing to a regular broadcast called ''Lokalzeit'' with the opt-outs "aus Aachen" (

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

), "OWL" (

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

), "aus Bonn" (

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

), "aus Dortmund" (

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

), "aus Düsseldorf" (

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

), "aus Duisburg" (

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

), "Ruhr" (

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

), "aus Köln" (

and

), "Münsterland" (

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

), "Südwestfalen" (

Siegen Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...

) and "Bergisches Land" (

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...

) for each respective region. WDR has its current affairs and regional politics studios in Düsseldorf. It has served as the production entity for shows on Das Erste, such as ''

Verbotene Liebe ''Verbotene Liebe'' (, "Forbidden Love") is a German television soap opera created by Reg Watson for Das Erste. The show was set primarily in the German city of Düsseldorf although, at times, the city of Cologne and the Spanish island of Mall ...

'' ('Forbidden Love'), which, over the years, has introduced many young actors to the German audience, such as

Andreas Stenschke Andreas Stenschke (born 26 July 1975), is a German actor and director. Biography Stenschke was born in Cologne, West Germany and moved shortly to the nearby suburbs, where his parents, Wolfgang and Marlene, had bought a home. He has a younger br ...

Jo Weil Johannes "Jo" Hermann Bruno Anton Weil (born 29 August 1977) is a German actor, best known for his portrayals of Oliver Sabel on the long-running German serial ''Verbotene Liebe'' ("Forbidden Love") and titular bodyguard Frank Farmer in multiple ...

, Luca Zamperoni and Kay Böger. The ''

Sportschau ''Sportschau'' is a German sports magazine on broadcaster ARD, produced by WDR in Cologne. The magazine started in 1961. In its Saturday edition, the ''Sportschau'' shows a summary of the Bundesliga, whereas the Sunday edition reports on the l ...

'' is produced for ARD in Cologne, and WDR contributes to

ARD Digital ARD is a joint organisation of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters. It was founded in 1950 in West Germany to represent the common interests of the new, decentralised, post-war broadcasting services—in particular the introduction of ...

, ''3sat'' and ''arte''.

Radio

A long-running talk show on wheels was '' Hallo Ü-Wagen'' ("Hello Radio Van"), which ran from 1974 to 2010 with Carmen Thomas as the original host. WDR's main radio channels are available on FM and digital (DAB+), as well as via cable and satellite: *

1LIVE 1LIVE is a radio station operated by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk public broadcasting corporation in Germany. It broadcasts a CHR format specialised in popular music. Aimed at the 14–39 age demographic, the average age of its listeners is 34. ...

is a popular music channel modelled on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

and aimed at a young audience. Its schedules include such non-mainstream night-time programmes as ''Heimatkult'', focusing on pop music from Germany, and ''Lauschangriff'', a series of audio-books. *

WDR 2 WDR 2 is a radio station owned and operated by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) public broadcasting organization in Germany. It focuses on contemporary pop and rock music for an adult audience and on information. It is also WDR's broadcast sport e ...

, featuring adult-oriented popular music, focuses strongly on national and regional news, current affairs, and sport. *

WDR 3 WDR 3 is a German public radio station owned and operated by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (; "West German Broadcasting Cologne"), shortened to WDR (), is a German public broadcasting, public-broadcasting institution based in the States of Germa ...

, the cultural channel, offers mostly classical, jazz and world music as well as

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...

and spoken-word features dealing with literature and the performing arts. *

WDR 4 WDR 4 is a German commercial-free public radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broa ...

(motto: ''Melodien für ein gutes Gefühl'', "Melodies for a good feeling") is a channel aimed chiefly towards an older audience. Its focus is on tuneful music – in particular,

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

and classic hits: popular music of the 1960s to the 1980s or later – with more specialized programming (operetta, country, folk) in the evenings. Around 30–40% of WDR 4's musical output is made up of

German-language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It is a ...

songs. *

WDR 5 WDR 5 is a German public radio station owned and operated by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (; "West German Broadcasting Cologne"), shortened to WDR (), is a German public broadcasting, public-broadcasting institution based in the States of German ...

features spoken-word programming with the focus on present-day culture and society. Between 6.05 and 9.45 each Monday to Saturday morning the channel offers news, background briefing, interviews, and correspondents' reports in a sequence entitled ''Morgenecho''. The main lunchtime and early-evening news and current affairs programmes ''Mittagsecho'' (at 13.05–14.00 on Mondays to Fridays and 13.30–14.30 on Sundays) and ''Echo des Tages'' (at 18.30–19.00 daily) are both co-productions with

(NDR) in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. Additionally, WDR 2's 30-minute round-up of the day's most important news reports, ''Berichte von heute'', is

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of 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, simultaneously) ...

by WDR 5 on Monday to Friday evenings at 23.30. WDR 5 also carries children's radio programming from KiRaKa at 19.05–20.00 each evening as well as on Sundays at 7.05–8.00 and 14.05–15.00. *

COSMO Cosmo may refer to: Business and media * ''Cosmopolitan'' (magazine), a magazine for women, sometimes referred to as "Cosmo" * ''Cosmo'' (book), 2012 short story collection * Cosmo On-Line, a Brazilian generic Internet portal * Cosmo Radio, ...

(earlier WDR 5 Funkhaus Europa – an offshoot of WDR 5 – and now a joint production of

Radio Bremen Radio Bremen (), shortened to RB () is Germany's smallest Public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster and the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (which includes Bremerha ...

, RBB, and WDR) is a channel principally aimed at serving immigrants and promoting integration. It features a wide selection of

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

. It is not available over-the-air in every part of WDR's broadcasting area. Broadcast only via DAB (Digital Radio) as well as DVB-S and partly DVB-C: *

1LIVE diggi 1LIVE is a radio station operated by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk public broadcasting corporation in Germany. It broadcasts a CHR format specialised in popular music. Aimed at the 14–39 age demographic, the average age of its listeners is 34. ...

– off-mainstream music and news from 1LIVE *

WDR Event WDR Event is a German, public radio station owned and operated by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). It broadcasts debates from the Bundestag and sports events like the Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bun ...

– program of events for special occasions Former radio channels are: *

WDR 1 WDR 1 was a German public radio station owned and operated by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). It was replaced by 1LIVE in 1995. History The station was originally the information program of the WDR and combined entertainment and pop music o ...

– Predecessor of 1 Live * WDR 2 Klassik – Contributions from WDR 2 with classical music, briefly replaced by the online service Mein WDR Radio after it was discontinued *

1LIVE Kunst 1LIVE is a radio station operated by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk public broadcasting corporation in Germany. It broadcasts a Contemporary hit radio, CHR format specialised in popular music. Aimed at the 14–39 age demographic, the average age o ...

– web radio with cultural themes and sophisticated pop music * Radio Dortmund – The first local radio station in North Rhine-Westphalia, which was started in 1985 as part of a cable pilot project. Radio Dortmund ran for nine years until WDR needed the frequency for a new WDR 2 "regional window". * KiRaKa – web radio for children aged 5 to 16 *WDR Info – WDR data and news service with visual information * WDR VERA – full-length traffic news spoken non-stop by a computer

Musical organizations

WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne The WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne (German: WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln) is a German radio orchestra based in Cologne, where the orchestra performs at two main concert halls: the WDR Funkhaus Wallrafplatz and the Kölner Philharmonie. Histo ...

(WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln) *

WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln The is a German broadcast orchestra of the ' (WDR, West German Broadcasting) in Cologne. The orchestra gives its concerts in such venues as the Kölner Philharmonie and in the Funkhaus Wallrafplatz. History Groups from which the orchestra was ...

WDR Big Band WDR Big Band is the jazz big band of German public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in Cologne, Germany. History Origins After World War II, the ''Kölner Rundfunk-Tanzorchester'' (''Cologne Radio Dance Orchestra'') was active from ...

WDR Rundfunkchor Köln The WDR Rundfunkchor Köln (West German Radio Choir Cologne) is the choir of the German broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), based in Cologne. It was founded in 1947. The choir premiered works by contemporary composers including Arnold Schoenb ...

Studio for Electronic Music (WDR) The Studio for Electronic Music of the West German Radio (German: ) was a facility of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in Cologne. It was the first of its kind in the world, and its history reflects the development of electronic music in the second ...

Notes

External links

* {{Authority control 1955 establishments in West Germany ARD (broadcaster) German-language television networks Mass media companies of Germany Mass media in Cologne Mass media in North Rhine-Westphalia Radio stations in Germany Television channels and stations established in 1956 Television networks in Germany Television stations in Germany