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 subscri ...

television channel run by regional public-service broadcaster

Bayerischer Rundfunk (; "Bavarian Broadcasting"), shortened to BR (), is a public broadcasting, public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, capital city of the Bavaria, Free State of Bavaria in Germany. BR is a member organization of the ARD (b ...

. Its programming consists of shows made by

, as well as from ARD and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

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 a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

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 novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, language learning,

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

and

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

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 (; "West German Broadcasting Cologne"), shortened to WDR (), is a German public broadcasting, public-broadcasting institution based in the States of Germany, Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a const ...

and

Südwestrundfunk (; ), shortened to SWR (), 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 in three cities: Stuttg ...

. 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 changed its name to 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