Südwestrundfunk


Südwestrundfunk 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: Stuttgart, Baden-Baden and Mainz, with the director's office being in Stuttgart. It is a part of the ARD consortium. It broadcasts on two television channels and six radio channels, with its main television and radio office in Baden-Baden and regional offices in Stuttgart and Mainz. It is the second largest broadcasting organization in Germany. SWR, with a coverage of 55,600 km2, and an audience reach estimated to be 14.7 million. SWR employs 3,700 people in its various offices and facilities.

History

SWR was established in 1998 through the merger of Süddeutscher Rundfunk, formerly headquartered in Stuttgart, and Südwestfunk, formerly headquartered in Baden-Baden. The existence of two public broadcasting corporations in southwest Germany was a legacy of the Allied occupation of Germany after the Second World War. The French Military Government established SWF as the sole public broadcaster in their occupation zone. This area was later divided into the states of South Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and Rhineland-Palatinate. The American Military Government established SDR in Württemberg-Baden. When Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and Württemberg-Baden merged to form Baden-Württemberg in 1952, the corporations were not merged, although SDR and SWF operated several joint services.
The two corporations had intended to merge in 1990, but the merger was pushed back by the reunification process.

Finances

required for radio and TV sets are €17.50 per month, as of 1 April 2015.
These fees are not collected directly by the SWR but by the Beitragsservice von ARD, ZDF und Deutschlandradio that is a common organisation of ARD, its members, ZDF and Deutschlandradio.
In 2016, the SWR received over from these fees, out of nearly collected in total that year.

Studios and offices

SWR operates studios in the following cities:
SWR regional offices are in:
In Baden-Württemberg there are also "Korrespondentenbüros" for the SWR in Aalen, Albstadt-Ebingen, Biberach, Buchen, Konstanz, Mosbach, Pforzheim, Ravensburg, Schwäbisch Hall, Tauberbischofsheim and Waldshut-Tiengen.

Programming

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

Television channels

SWR operates six radio channels on FM and DAB, all of which are also streamed on the internet.
SWR was established on 1 January 1998 and the new corporation began broadcasting on 1 September 1998. Its predecessor organizations, SDR and SWF, were formally dissolved at 24.00 on 30 September 1998, SWR legally succeeding them with effect from 0.00 on 1 October 1998.
Channel mergers and changes with effect from 1 September 1998:
A radio news channel, SWR cont.ra, was added in July 2002. This was relaunched with a new programme format on 9 January 2012 as SWRinfo. It was relaunched again as SWR Aktuell on 6 February 2017

Organization

Since 2007, the managing director of SWR has been Peter Boudgoust, who was previously the administrative director of SWR. The managing director's office is located in Stuttgart. Seven other directors serve under him :
At present, there is a new TV tower at Waldenburg under construction, which should replacer in 2008 old TV tower Waldenburg.

Orchestras and Choruses

SWR operates the following musical organizations:
Within the ARD, SWR is responsible for the coordination of the joint network programming on the networks 3sat and arte as well as the main Internet site for the ARD, ARD.de. The offices for ARTE Deutschland TV GmbH are in Baden-Baden, and the offices for ARD.de are in Mainz.

SWR is also responsible for some of the foreign studios operated on behalf of the ARD:
The following companies are subsidiaries of SWR-Holding GmbH: