Saarländischer Rundfunk

Saarländischer Rundfunk (Saarland Broadcasting - SR) is a public radio and television broadcaster for the German Bundesland (State) of Saarland, with its headquarters in the Broadcasting House Halberg in Saarbrücken. SR is a member of the ARD.

Programming

SR provides programs to various TV and radio networks, some done in collaboration with other broadcasters, and others completely independently.

TV programming

* SR Fernsehen - Third TV channel for the Saarland, part of a regional collaboration with Südwestrundfunk.
* ARD - SR contributes programming to Germany's main network.
* Phoenix - collaborative network programming between the ARD and ZDF.
* KI.KA - Children's network from the ARD and ZDF.
* arte - Franco-german cultural network
* 3sat - Cultural network from the ARD, ZDF, ORF (Austrian Broadcasting), and SRG (Swiss Broadcasting).

Radio programming

* SR 1 Europawelle ("Europe Wave") - Pop music and information, transmitted twenty-four hours per day
* SR 2 Kuturradio - cultural radio, transmitted twenty-four hours per day
* SR 3 Saarlandwelle ("Saarland Wave") - Transmits music in the German and French languages, as well as Saarland information, twenty-four hours per day.
* UnserDing ("Our Thing") - Youth-oriented programming, in cooperation with DASDING from Südwestrundfunk.
* antenne saar - Spoken word information source with a Franco-German character.

Transmitters

*AM transmitter at Heusweiler (broadcasting Deutschlandfunk's programming)
*VHF and TV transmitters on the Göttelborner Höhe, in the Moselle River valley, and in the Blies valley.

History

The first broadcasts from the Saarland began in 1929. In 1935, when the Saar rejoined Germany, the Saar station became "Reichssender Saarbrücken", part of "Reichs-Rundfunk GmbH Berlin" under the control of Joseph Goebbels's Propagandaministerium.

After World War II, the Saarland was under French occupation as the Saar Protectorate. The French military government established "Radio Saarbrücken" in the area. This came under civilian control on 31 December 1947.

In 1952, the Saarland introduced a broadcasting law which reorganised radio in the Länder and created the Saarländischer Rundfunk company. In 1953, SR expanded into television and started a second radio network, SR2.

The Saarland became part of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1957 and Saarländischer Rundfunk was converted into a public broadcasting corporation, patterned on the system in other Länder, and renamed Saarland Rundfunk. The organisation joined the ARD alliance of broadcasting corporations in 1959.

On 5 April 1969, the three broadcasters then covering southwest Germany, Saarländischer Rundfunk, Südwestfunk (SWF; Southwest Broadcasting) and Süddeutscher Rundfunk (SDR, Southern German Broadcasting), began a joint third television channel, "Südwest 3" or "S3". The new channel only operated three days a week at first, then expanded to four days in September 1969 and the whole week in 1971. On 30 August 1998, S3 became "SR Südwest Fernsehen", planned in co-operation with Südwestrundfunk, the successor to SWF and SDR. Since 11 September 2006 it has been simply called SR Fernsehen. 70 % of the programming is identical with the new SWR Fernsehen, but the design and corner logo is different. A teletext service, Saartext, has operated since 2 October 1989.

On 1 November 1964, the SR reorganised its radio services, converting SR1, previously a general network, into the music station "SR1 Europawelle Saar". A new station, SR3, was launched, aimed at immigrant workers in the region. Since 7 January 1980, SR3 has been known as "SR3 Saarlandwelle" and is the main regional station for the Saar.

SR2 became "SR2 Studiowelle Saar" in 1967. From 1972 until 1990, this station was organised in co-operation with SDR and SWF, and from 1990 until 1994 in co-operation with Hessischer Rundfunk's "hr2" station. From 1 January 1995, the station has been known as "SR2 KulturRadio" and is now programmed independently.

SR4, the fourth radio service, began on 6 November 1989. The station carried programming for immigrant workers and, from 1 March 1999, coverage of debates in the Bundestag and Bundesrat (German parliament). When parliament was not sitting, SR4 carried SR2 and SR3 programmes.

On 1 March 1999, the SR began a youth station, "UnserDing", programmed in co-operation with the SWF's youth service "DASDING". In January 2004, SR4 was closed and its frequencies taken over by "UnserDing".

Directors of SR and its predecessor organizations

* 1935-1940: Dr. Adolf Raskin, Director of "Reichssenders Saarbrücken" (Imperial Broadcasting Saarbrücken)
* 1940-1948: Karl Mages, Director of "Reichssenders Saarbrücken", and later director of "Radio Saarbrücken" and first director of SR.
* 1948-1956: Frederic Billmann, General Director of Saarländischer Rundfunk (under French postwar administration)
* 1957-1976: Dr. Franz Wilhelm Mai, Director of the public broadcaster Saarländischer Rundfunk (under West German administration, after Saarland was reunited with West Germany)
* 1977-1988: Prof. Dr. Hubert Rohde
* 1989-1996: Dr. Manfred Buchwald
* 1996-present: Fritz Raff

ee also

* Europe 1
* German television

External links

* [http://www.sr-online.de/ Saarländischer Rundfunk] homepage, in German.