About NDR Info

NDR Info

NDR Info — "Die Nachrichten für den Norden." ("The news for the North.") — is the news radio programme of Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), broadcasting across Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Bremen. Launched on 1 April 1989 as "NDR 4" (renamed NDR 4 Info on 2 June 1998, NDR Info in 2002), it is the NDR's 24-hour news and information service. With 646,000 listeners (ma Audio 2026 II), it is one of Germany's strongest regional news radios.

Overview

NDR Info broadcasts on FM, cable, satellite, and DAB+ (since 22 November 2011), plus Europe-wide via Astra satellite and worldwide as an internet livestream. The programme has been produced since October 2021 from the NDR-Nachrichtenhaus (news house) in Hamburg-Lokstedt — previously from the Funkhaus on the Rothenbaumchaussee. Programme head since early 2020 is Adrian Feuerbacher (successor to Claudia Spiewak). The NDR intendant is Hendrik Lünenborg (since 1 September 2025).

History

NDR Info began on 1 April 1989 as NDR 4 — the NDR's fourth radio service, conceived as a word-oriented information and culture programme. From 1998 to 2004, NDR 4 was successively rebuilt into today's information programme: renamed "NDR 4 Info" on 2 June 1998, then "NDR Info" in 2002. The transformation mirrored a national trend: the ARD's broadcasters were discovering that the future of spoken-word radio lay in dedicated news channels rather than mixed culture-and-information waves.

The October 2021 move from the Rothenbaumchaussee Funkhaus to the Nachrichtenhaus in Hamburg-Lokstedt was symbolic: the news radio physically joined the NDR's news centre — the same Lokstedt complex that houses ARD-aktuell, the editorial department behind the Tagesschau, Tagesthemen, and Nachtmagazin. NDR Info now broadcasts from the heart of German television news.

From NDR 4 to NDR Info: The Invention of News Radio

The 1998–2004 transformation of NDR 4 into NDR Info is a case study in format evolution. NDR 4 began in 1989 as a "word-oriented information and culture programme" — the classic mixed spoken-word wave: features, culture, discussion, some news. By the late 1990s, the NDR's management had concluded that the mixed model was failing: the culture belonged on the culture wave, and the information needed its own channel.

The rebuilding was gradual — the 2 June 1998 renaming to "NDR 4 Info" signalled the direction, the 2002 "NDR Info" name completed it — and it reflected a national learning process. Across the ARD, broadcasters were converging on the same insight: dedicated news radio, with rolling news and a clear identity, outperformed mixed spoken-word waves. The BBC's Radio 4 versus the rolling news of 5 Live offered the international template; Germany's regional news radios were the domestic answer.

Lokstedt: The News Factory

The October 2021 move to Hamburg-Lokstedt placed NDR Info at the centre of German broadcast journalism. Lokstedt is where ARD-aktuell works — the editorial department that produces the Tagesschau (Germany's most-watched news programme, on air since 26 December 1952), the Tagesthemen, and the Nachtmagazin for Das Erste. The NDR's Lokstedt complex is, in effect, the newsroom of the nation: the place where Germany learns what happened today.

For NDR Info, the co-location is transformative. The radio newsroom draws on the television newsroom's resources — correspondents, footage, editorial judgment — while contributing radio's speed and intimacy. The Nachrichtenhaus (news house) concept — print, radio, television, and online journalism under one roof — is the industry's answer to the digital age, and NDR Info's presence there makes it part of Germany's most consequential news operation.

The move also ended an era: the Rothenbaumchaussee Funkhaus in Harvestehude — the radio studios' historic home — lost its news station to Lokstedt. The geography of Hamburg broadcasting shifted west, following the news.

The ARD News Radio System

NDR Info operates in a distinguished field: every ARD broadcaster runs a news radio — WDR 5, BR24, hr-info, SWR Aktuell, rbb24 Inforadio, MDR Aktuell — and the stations cooperate as well as compete. The joint "ARD Infonacht" overnight news service, carried by several of the news radios, is the system's quiet efficiency: one newsroom keeps the night watch for all.

NDR Info's particular strength is its scale: with 646,000 daily listeners and a widest circle of 3.52 million, it is among the largest regional news radios in Europe. The north's news appetite — the Hamburg media market, the state capitals, the coastal weather-dependence — sustains a news radio that in smaller states might not survive. "Die Nachrichten für den Norden" is not just a slogan but a market description: the north is big enough, news-hungry enough, to support its own news wave.

NDR Info Spezial: The Parliamentary Channel

The DAB+-only NDR Info Spezial — on air since 5 January 2012 — extends the news brand into territory FM cannot accommodate: live parliamentary debates (the Bundestag and the state parliaments), foreign-language programmes, detailed weather and sports information. The parliamentary coverage fulfils a democratic remit that commercial radio ignores: the unedited, unfiltered transmission of the legislature at work.

In an age of political polarisation, the Spezial channel's dry, complete parliamentary broadcasts are a public-service statement: democracy audible in full, without commentary or editing. The audience is small; the principle is large.

The Medium Wave Farewell

Until 13 January 2015, NDR Info also broadcast on medium wave across most of the NDR's area — the last of the region's AM voices. The medium-wave switch-off, part of the ARD's cost-saving and modernisation drive, ended nearly a century of AM broadcasting in northern Germany. The frequencies fell silent; the listeners migrated to FM, DAB+, and streaming. NDR Info's history thus spans the full arc of 20th-century radio technology — from the AM dial to the internet stream — a reminder of how completely the medium has transformed within one station's lifetime.

Programming

NDR Info is a 24-hour news and information programme: rolling news, background reporting, interviews, and service information for the north — from the Hamburg harbour's labour disputes to the Mecklenburg harvest, from the Kiel state parliament to the Lower Saxon state election. The northern perspective distinguishes it from the Berlin-centred national news: the capital's politics matter, but so does the tide table, the ferry strike, the shipyard order. For the north's news, there is no substitute for the north's newsroom. The digital offshoot NDR Info Spezial — on DAB+ since 5 January 2012 — carries parliamentary coverage, foreign-language programmes, weather bulletins, and sports information, extending the news brand into specialist territory.

Coverage and Audience

NDR Info broadcasts on FM across the four NDR states plus Bremen, on DAB+ since November 2011, via Astra satellite across Europe, and worldwide via livestream every day. Its 646,000 listeners (ma Audio 2026 II) — 569,000 in the broadcasting area — make it one of the ARD's strongest news radios; the "widest listener circle" counts 3.52 million nationwide.

Ownership and Funding

NDR Info is operated by Norddeutscher Rundfunk, the public-law broadcaster for Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and a member of the ARD, headquartered in Hamburg. Like the NDR's other non-commercial waves, it is financed through the broadcasting licence fee. The NDR intendant is Hendrik Lünenborg.

Digital Presence

NDR Info's online presence is integrated into the NDR's digital platforms at ndr.de, with livestream, programme information, podcasts, and on-demand news bulletins. Because the official domain has not been independently load-verified, the website field of this profile is left empty pending verification.