Radio Bremen (), shortened to RB () is Germany's smallest public radio and television broadcaster and the legally mandated broadcaster for the

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (which includes

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

). With its headquarters sited in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

, Radio Bremen is a member of the consortium of German public broadcasting organizations, ARD.

History

In 1922 the "Deutsche Stunde für drahtlose Belehrung und Unterhaltung" (''German Hour for Wireless Education and Entertainment'') was founded with the participation of

Ludwig Roselius Ludwig Roselius (2 June 1874 – 15 May 1943) was a German coffee merchant and founder of the company Kaffee HAG. He was born in Bremen and is credited with the development of commercial decaffeination of coffee. As a patron, he supported ar ...

. On 2 May 1924 Nordische Rundfunk AG (NORAG) began broadcasting. On 30 November 1924, the "Zwischensender" Bremen was put into operation. It distributed the program from Hamburg and produced daily 3–4 hours program for the NORAG. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Radio Bremen began transmitting a daily programme on AM radio on 23 December 1945 under the post-war occupation of Germany by the Allied powers. Although located in an

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

entirely surrounded by the British Zone of occupation, the city of Bremen belonged, together with Bremerhaven, to the American Zone, and radio broadcasting was therefore overseen by the American command. In 1949 Radio Bremen was chartered to be the public broadcaster serving the city-state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and became a founding member of ARD in 1950. Some notable people like Loriot and

Jan Böhmermann Jan Böhmermann () (born 23 February 1981) is a German Satire, satirist, journalist, podcast and television host. He also worked as a writer, producer, radio host, and is best known for his activism through publicity stunts. Early life and edu ...

spent significant parts of their careers at Radio Bremen.

Organization and finances

Chairmen of Radio Bremen

* 1946–1957: Walter Geerdes * 1957–1968: Heinz Kerneck * 1968–1973: Hans Abich * 1973–1974:

Klaus Bölling Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus * Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American base ...

* 1974–1985:

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German former politician and Lobbying, lobbyist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (S ...

* 1985–1999:

Karl-Heinz Klostermeier Karl-Heinz is a German given name, composed of Karl (name), Karl and Heinz (given name), Heinz but with a hyphen dash. Notable people with that name include: * Hilarios Karl-Heinz Ungerer, German Bishop * Karl-Heinz Feldkamp (born 1934), football ...

* 1999–2009: Heinz Glässgen * 2009–present:

Jan Metzger Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

Finances

Every household in Germany is required by law to pay a ''Rundfunkbeitrag'' (broadcast contribution) of €18.36 per month as of August 2021, to finance the public broadcast system. The fee is collected by '' Beitragsservice von ARD, ZDF und Deutschlandradio''.

Programming

Television

Radio Bremen produces and provides programmes for the nationwide television network

Das Erste Das Erste (; "The First") is the flagship national television channel of the ARD (broadcaster), ARD association of public broadcasting corporations in Germany. ''Das Erste'' is jointly operated by the ARD (broadcaster)#Institutions and member org ...

, the main national public TV channel. Radio Bremen, together with NDR and the former SFB, began broadcasting a regional network on 4 January 1965. The name of the network was originally "Nord 3" ("North 3"), later renamed "Norddeutsches Fernsehen N 3" ("North German Television N3"). Since December 2001 the network has been known as "NDR Fernsehen" ("North German Broadcasting: Television"). As of that change, and until 2005, Radio Bremen productions carried their own logo when transmitted on the network. On 1 January 2005 Radio Bremen began its own regional station: "

Radio Bremen TV Radio Bremen TV is a regional public service television channel owned and operated by Radio Bremen (RB) and serving Bremen, Germany. It is one of seven regional "third programs". The name reflects the fact these programs all came into existence ...

" (RB-TV). Besides the regional programming, cooperation with NDR continues. Radio Bremen and NDR produce a combined

teletext Teletext, or broadcast teletext, is a standard for displaying text and rudimentary graphics on suitably equipped television sets. Teletext sends data in the broadcast signal, hidden in the invisible vertical blanking interval area at the to ...

service called NDR-Text. Until December 2001 it was known by the name "Nord-Text" ("North-Text").

Radio

Radio Bremen originates and transmits four radio networks, as listed below: *

Bremen Eins Bremen Eins is a German, public radio station owned and operated by the Radio Bremen (RB). It launched on 23 April 2001, succeeding Hansawelle and Radio Bremen Melodie. The station is aimed at an audience aged 45 and above. It broadcasts an ad ...

(Bremen One) – a station geared to adults, consisting mostly of oldies, along with daily news in the local dialect, known as "Bremer Platt". *

Bremen Zwei Bremen Zwei is a German public radio station owned and operated by Radio Bremen (RB). It broadcasts a culture and information-based format with a wide music selection, similar to Bayern 2. Unlike other ARD cultural stations, it does not air c ...

(Bremen Two) – a cultural and current affairs programme. *

Bremen Vier Bremen Vier (English: Bremen Four) is a radio station from Radio Bremen for the city of Bremen and Bremerhaven in the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. It broadcasts a hot adult contemporary format dominated by pop music and has been operating s ...

(Bremen Four) – a youth-oriented station, consisting of current hits, geared to the present day youth. *

Bremen Next Bremen Next is a German, public, youth-oriented radio station owned and operated by Radio Bremen (RB). Aimed at an audience aged 15 to 25, it broadcasts a rhythmic CHR format with mostly hip hop and electronic music and makes heavy use of socia ...

– another youth oriented station, consisting of current urban, R&B and electronica, geared to a sightly younger audience than Bremen Vier. Until 12 August 2017, Radio Bremen produced Nordwestradio (Northwest Radio) in conjunction with NDR, although the station was only transmitted over transmitters in Bremen and Bremerhaven. After that date, the station reverted to an exclusive operation of Radio Bremen as Bremen Zwei. Radio Bremen also co-produces the Cosmo radio station, targeted at migrant communities. It is produced with WDR and RBB.

Transmitters

The FM and TV signals (including DVB-T) are broadcast in Bremen from the Bremen-Walle Telecommunication Tower, which is operated by

Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. It was formed in 199 ...

. The transmitter for Bremerhaven is located on the Telecommunication Tower in Schiffdorf and also operated by Deutsche Telekom. Radio Bremen transmitted on 936 kHz

medium wave Medium wave (MW) is a part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytim ...

until 13 March 2010 using the mediumwave transmitter at Leher Field. Radio Bremen also formerly transmitted its first programme on 6190 kHz

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (app ...

. All AM transmissions have been defunct.

References

External links

* {{Authority control ARD (broadcaster) Mass media companies of Germany Television networks in Germany German-language television networks Mass media in Bremen (city)