About DASDING

DASDING

DASDING (own spelling DASDING) — "Liebt euch!" — is the youth radio of the southwest, broadcasting from Baden-Baden. Launched on 17 May 1997 as a SWF/SDR cooperation in Rhineland-Palatinate's DAB pilot project, it serves 14- to 29-year-olds with contemporary hit radio (CHR). Since 1 June 2026, it has been the joint young offering of SWR, Hessischer Rundfunk, and Saarländischer Rundfunk — merging the SWR's DASDING with the hr's YOU FM and the SR's UnserDing. With 562,000 listeners (Media-Analyse II/2026), it is the southwest's youth wave.

Overview

DASDING broadcasts from Baden-Baden (with seats in Frankfurt am Main and Saarbrücken since the 2026 merger) across Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, and Saarland on FM, DAB+, cable, satellite, and webradio — the tri-state youth wave, the 1997 DAB pioneer's inheritance, on air across four states. Programme director is Max Lotter. The broadcasters' intendants are Kai Gniffke (SWR), Florian Hager (hr), and Martin Grasmück (SR). The programme is ad-free on SR and SWR.

History

DASDING began on 17 May 1997 — a joint venture of the still-independent Südwestfunk and Süddeutscher Rundfunk, launched in Rhineland-Palatinate's DAB pilot project. The concept was the "Jugendmultimedium" (youth multimedia): radio, television, and internet combined into a then-novel offering for 14- to 29-year-olds. Distributed via DAB and ADR, on the internet, and from 2000 via small local FM transmitters, DASDING was the digital age's youth radio before the digital age.

The 1998 SWR merger continued DASDING unchanged: the new broadcaster's youth programme, the DAB pioneer's inheritance. Organisationally grouped with SWR3 in the SWR's "Pop-Unit", DASDING became the youth complement to the pop wave: the 14-to-29 audience graduating to SWR3's 14-to-39.

On 1 June 2026, DASDING became the joint young offering of HR, SR, and SWR — merging with the hr's YOU FM and the SR's UnserDing (the 1999 SWR/DASDING cooperation's Saarland sibling). The tri-state youth radio: three broadcasters, one youth brand, seats in Baden-Baden, Frankfurt, and Saarbrücken.

The DAB Pilot: 1997's Youth Multimedia

DASDING's 17 May 1997 launch — in Rhineland-Palatinate's DAB pilot project — made it German public radio's digital pioneer: the youth programme designed for the digital audio broadcasting age, launched when DAB receivers were rarities. The SWF/SDR cooperation — the two broadcasters still independent, jointly venturing into the digital future — was the institutional novelty: the competitors cooperating on the youth offering, the DAB pilot's flagship.

The "Jugendmultimedium" concept — radio, television, and internet combined — was 1997's prophecy: the youth brand across the media, the radio as the hub, the television and internet as the spokes. The concept anticipated the 2020s' platform logic by two decades: the audience encountering DASDING on the DAB radio, the TV screen, the website — the youth multimedia before the smartphones.

The distribution — DAB and ADR (Astra Digital Radio), the internet, and from 2000 the small local FM transmitters — reflected the digital transition: the DAB future not yet arrived, the FM present still necessary. The small FM transmitters — the local frequencies filling the DAB gaps — kept the youth wave audible: the digital pioneer with the analogue crutch.

UnserDing: The Saarland Sibling (1999–2026)

The SR's UnserDing — launched 1 March 1999 in cooperation with the SWR's DASDING — was the Saarland's youth wave: the small state's young offering, the DASDING brand's Saarland sibling. The cooperation's logic — the SR too small for its own youth programme, the SWR's DASDING extended — gave the Saarland's youth the southwestern youth radio: the shared music, the Saarland windows.

The UnserDing years — 1999 to the 2026 merger — were the Saarland youth's DASDING era: the shared CHR format, the local Saarland content, the "Hausgewächs" presenters. The SR4 frequencies — taken over in January 2004 after SR4's closure — carried the youth wave: the fourth programme's frequencies becoming the youth's. The 2026 tri-state merger absorbed UnserDing into the joint DASDING: the Saarland sibling coming home to the southwestern brand.

The 2026 Tri-State Merger: HR, SR, SWR

The 1 June 2026 merger — DASDING becoming the joint young offering of Hessischer Rundfunk, Saarländischer Rundfunk, and Südwestrundfunk — is the ARD reform era's youth consolidation: three broadcasters' youth programmes (DASDING, YOU FM, UnserDing) merging into one tri-state brand. The seats — Baden-Baden, Frankfurt am Main, Saarbrücken — map the cooperation: the SWR's pop unit, the hr's youth base, the SR's Saarland window.

The merger's logic — the youth audience's fragmentation, the costs' pressure, the brands' dilution — follows the ARD's pooling strategy: the small broadcasters sharing the youth offering, the strong brand surviving. DASDING — the 1997 pioneer, the 562,000 listeners — prevailed as the brand: the southwestern youth radio becoming the tri-state youth radio.

The "Liebt euch!" slogan — "Love each other!" — replaces the "Live. Laut. Lässig." attitude: the youth wave's ethos from the laid-back to the loving. The rebranding's message: the tri-state youth community, the inclusive invitation. The 14-to-29 audience across four states — Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Saarland — united by the hits and the "Liebt euch!".

Note (October 2026): The tri-state DASDING launched 1 June 2026; the integration of the three broadcasters' youth operations continues at the time of writing. Programme details reflect the transition period.

The School Projects: Media Pedagogy

DASDING's school media projects — supporting student newspapers and school radios with workshops and professional equipment — are the youth wave's public-service mission: the media literacy, the journalistic training, the democratic competence. The youth radio as the media educator: the 14-to-29 audience learning to make media, not just consume it.

The workshops — the professional equipment, the editorial mentoring — give the schools what they cannot afford: the broadcast technology, the journalistic know-how. The student newspapers and school radios — the democracy's training grounds — gain the public broadcaster's support: the youth wave investing in its future audience and its future journalists.

The media-pedagogical mission distinguishes the public youth radio from the commercial: the licence fee funding not just the entertainment but the education. The "Liebt euch!" extended to the media literacy: the youth loving each other, the youth learning together.

Programming

DASDING's format is CHR — contemporary hit radio for 14- to 29-year-olds: the current hits, the youth culture, the attitude — formerly "Live. Laut. Lässig." (live, loud, laid-back), now "Liebt euch!" (love each other). The digital portfolio — web video, podcasts, social media — extends the radio: the youth brand across the platforms, the 1997 "Jugendmultimedium" prophecy fulfilled. DASDING supports school media projects — student newspapers, school radios — with workshops and professional equipment: the youth wave's media-pedagogical mission, the public-service difference — the licence fee funding not just the entertainment but the education, the future journalists trained on the public broadcaster's equipment.

Coverage and Audience

DASDING broadcasts on FM, DAB+, cable, satellite, and webradio across Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, and Saarland. Its 562,000 listeners (MA II/2026, Monday–Sunday 5 a.m.–midnight) make it the southwest's youth wave — and, since June 2026, the tri-state youth wave of the southwest, Hesse, and the Saarland.

Ownership and Funding

DASDING is operated jointly by Südwestrundfunk, Hessischer Rundfunk, and Saarländischer Rundfunk — public-law broadcasters and ARD members. The programme is financed through the broadcasting licence fee; it is ad-free on SR and SWR. The intendants are Kai Gniffke (SWR), Florian Hager (hr), and Martin Grasmück (SR).

Digital Presence

DASDING's online presence spans the broadcasters' digital platforms, with webradio, web video, podcasts, and social media channels. Because the official domain has not been independently load-verified, the website field of this profile is left empty pending verification.