About Radio Bamberg

Radio Bamberg

Radio Bamberg is the local radio for the Bamberg and Forchheim region in Upper Franconia, broadcasting from the Funkhaus Bamberg on Gutenbergstraße 5. On air since 10 October 1987 — first as the frequency-sharing Radio Regnitzwelle and Fun Boy Radio, then as Radio Antenne Franken, and since 1996 as Radio Bamberg — the station plays "the most hits in the best mix" with world news every full and half hour, regional news, traffic and speed-camera reports, service and comedy. With market shares growing from around 10 to 25 percent, it is known for its basketball coverage (the local Bundesliga club) and events like the Kinosommer, the Entenrennen duck race, the Dorftour and concert series at Schloss Eyrichshof near Ebern.

Overview

Radio Bamberg is a local broadcaster for the city and district of Bamberg and the Forchheim area, operated from the Funkhaus Bamberg. The programme concentrates on hits with broad appeal — initially 1980s hits, since August 2017 a wider music selection under the slogans "Mein Zuhause. Meine Hits." and "Die meisten Hits, der beste Mix". News comes every full and half hour, with regional news, traffic and speed-trap reports, service and comedy. Friday, Saturday and Monday evenings feature moderated and unmoderated stretches with DJ Enrico Ostendorf. The managing director and programme director is Mischa Salzmann.

History

The predecessors — Radio Regnitzwelle (mornings until 1:20 p.m. and evenings 6–8 p.m.) and the youth radio Fun Boy Radio (afternoons 1:20–6 p.m. and 8–11 p.m.) — began broadcasting on 10 October 1987 on the Bamberg FM frequency 88.5 MHz in a frequency split; the night programme was taken over by one of the two stations in weekly rotation. A year later a frequency for Forchheim was added. Fun Boy Radio's chart-oriented youth programme was popular with the US Americans stationed in Bamberg, culminating in American-language shows on Sunday evenings; its weekday "Powerplay" played a weekly-changing new release in full at sign-on, and the "Frankenspiegel" magazine covered city, region and world. Radio Regnitzwelle devoted itself to schlager, oldies and calmer pop and rock, producing 753 episodes of "Bamberger Kasperle" good-night stories with the Herrnleben puppet theatre.

Since neither station was profitable alone, the Fun Boy Radio owners agreed to a merger on 1 July 1991, implemented days later; Fun Boy Radio's last broadcast day was 14 July 1991. From 15 July 1991 both stations appeared as Radio Antenne Franken — modelled on the successful Antenne Bayern — with an oldie-and-schlager format partly produced in Bamberg and the rest taken from the BLR satellite mantle programme common to Bavarian local stations. But the "Arabella format" with its 39-plus target group could not generate enough advertising revenue, so on the ninth radio anniversary in the cathedral city, 10 October 1996, the station was renamed Radio Bamberg with a format change. The slogan became "Radio Bamberg … geht ohrentief rein", with the youth show "Club 15" at 3 p.m. (presenter Jörg Wagner) courting school pupils. The BLR mantle was mostly confined to evening and night hours and replaced by automated stretches in August 2017. Over the years the station grew into an institution with market shares from around 10 to 25 percent. Longtime morning host Helmut Pötzinger — a fixture across Regnitzwelle, Antenne Franken and Radio Bamberg — left in 2006; Jörg Wagner, still moderating today, became the new morning host, followed by Matthias Steger and Fabian Hollet.

Programming

The programme combines hit music with half-hourly world news, regional news, traffic and speed-camera reports, service and comedy. Basketball coverage of the local Bundesliga club is a station specialty, alongside event formats: the Kinosommer open-air cinema summer, the Entenrennen duck race, the Dorftour village tour and concert series at Schloss Eyrichshof near Ebern. The evening stretches with DJ Enrico Ostendorf add a party dimension on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays.

Coverage & Audience

Radio Bamberg broadcasts on FM — Bamberg 88.5 MHz, Forchheim 96.6, Buttenheim 92.1, Ebermannstadt 98.8, Burglesau 106.1, Burgwindheim 88.7 — on DAB+ channel 10B for Upper Franconia and the Nuremberg-Fürth-Erlangen triangle, via cable and as a worldwide livestream. Market shares grew from around 10 to 25 percent over the years.

Ownership

Radio Bamberg is operated from the Funkhaus Bamberg by the same shareholders who also operate Radio Galaxy's Bamberg edition — on air since 11 September 2001 on its own frequency 104.7 MHz with about five hours of daily Bamberg programme within the Funkhaus Regensburg mantle. The Fun Boy Rundfunkprogramm GmbH was dissolved in 2006 after its owner Andreas Starke was elected mayor of Bamberg; the shares were distributed equally among the remaining shareholders of the Funkhaus on Gutenbergstraße.

Digital Presence

Radio Bamberg operates radio-bamberg.de with a livestream alongside apps and social media channels, carrying the station's hit programme, regional news and event coverage to listeners beyond the FM footprint. The digital offering extends the "radio zum Anfassen" (hands-on radio) philosophy — with its many campaigns and events — into on-demand and mobile formats.

History: From Frequency-Splitting to Radio Bamberg

Local radio in Bamberg began on 10 October 1987, when two programmes started sharing the 88.5 MHz frequency in the so-called Frequenzsplitting: Radio Regnitzwelle (broadcasting mornings until 1:20 p.m. and evenings 6–8 p.m., with a studio in the heart of Bamberg at the Grüner Markt, playing classic schlager) and the youth station Fun Boy Radio (afternoons 1:20–6 p.m. and 8–11 p.m., broadcasting from a glass studio on Vorderer Graben with modern pop). The night programme was taken over by one of the two stations in a weekly rhythm. A year later a frequency for the town of Forchheim was added — though at very low power. Fun Boy Radio was ahead of its time with a chart-oriented youth programme that found fans among the Americans stationed in Bamberg and even culminated in English-language broadcasts on Sunday evenings; its extra show ran competitions with big drinks manufacturers as sponsors to keep the youth station afloat.

Both stations merged in 1991 and went on air from Radio Regnitzwelle's former home under the name Radio Antenne Franken, with a music format of schlager and oldies. Five years later came another name change and, above all, a programme reform: Radio Bamberg — the name under which it broadcasts to this day. The station also moved, and is now at home in the media centre on Gutenbergstraße, where the partners and management invested heavily in technology: in 2008 the broadcast studio was completely renewed and digitised, leaving Radio Bamberg with one of the most modern studios in Germany for a local station. Local sports coverage has been a fixture of the programme since the first hour, and the editorial team has won numerous awards from the Bavarian media authority BLM.

Two Formats, One Funkhaus

Radio Bamberg is operated by the Bamberger Rundfunk GmbH & Co. Studiobetriebs KG and plays a broad selection of hits from the 1980s to today under the slogan "Mein Zuhause. Meine Hits." — my home, my hits. Local news is produced directly in the studio, while national news is supplied centrally from Munich. Alongside the news, traffic and speed-camera reports and service, the station runs an extensive event business: public viewings, family festivals, morning-show tours, village tours, the ice tour and competitions. Around 2004 the house gained a second radio format with Radio Galaxy, the young-format station also produced in the Funkhaus Bamberg and aimed at the under-29s. Managing director is Mischa Salzmann, who has worked for the house in various roles for some two decades.

Coverage and Digital Presence

The station is receivable in Bamberg on FM 88.5 MHz, with further FM frequencies including 98.8 MHz for Ebermannstadt and 92.1 MHz for the Franconian Switzerland (Heiligenstadt, Aufseß, Hollfeld to Gößweinstein), plus DAB+, cable and a worldwide livestream. The address is Gutenbergstraße 5, 96050 Bamberg. Almost four decades after two stations split a frequency, Radio Bamberg remains Bamberg and Forchheim's local station — with one of Germany's most modern studios and a programme that has been measured, by regular telephone surveys, with consistently strong results.