About Radio Hamburg

Radio Hamburg

Radio Hamburg (RHH) is Hamburg's first licensed private broadcaster — launched on 31 December 1986 at 11:00 a.m. with the recorded announcement "Radio Hamburg, Leinen los!" ("cast off!"), one of the first private stations in West Germany and notably the first in Germany to carry Casey Kasem's American Top 40 in its early heyday. Under the slogan "Euer Musiksender Nummer 1!" ("Your music station No. 1!") it is listened to by more than one million people daily. The owners are Hamburg-based Axel Springer SE, Bauer Media Group, RTL Group and minor shareholders; its own ad marketer is MORE Marketing GmbH. CEO is Patrick Bernstein, programme director Niklas Naujok, chief editor Rainer Hirsch.

Overview

Radio Hamburg is a private hot-AC broadcaster from the Semperhaus in Hamburg (Spitalerstraße 10), broadcasting there since August 2008 — the Semperhaus facility also supports other RTL Group stations such as Hamburg Zwei, the station's sister programme (formerly fun fun 95, mix 95.0, magic fm, OK Radio, Oldie 95). Ownership shares: Axel Springer SE 35%, RTL Group 29.17%, Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG 25%, Lühmanndruck Harburger Zeitungsgesellschaft 5.83%, Morgenpost Verlag 5%.

History

Radio Hamburg went on air on 31 December 1986 at 11:00 with "Radio Hamburg, Leinen los!"; the first moderation was by Frank-Dieter Tausch and Carola Oppermann, music initially played from vinyl before being digitised. It started with a 40-person staff under first programme director Rainer Cabanis, built by the Heinrich-Bauer-Verlag, Axel-Springer-Verlag and Ufa, targeting 15–45-year-olds with ~70% music and hourly news (half-hourly mornings). The name had been used right after WWII by a British-occupation broadcaster, the later Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk. Radio Hamburg was market leader for years before NDR 90,3 overtook it in February 2007.

Programming

The hot-AC full programme plays the mega-hits of the 1990s, 2000s and the best of today, with weather, traffic, news and a ticket service for all major concerts via its website.

Coverage & Audience

Radio Hamburg broadcasts on FM 103.6 MHz in Hamburg (88.5 MHz Neuwerk, formerly 95.0 MHz until 1988 and the city frequency 104.0 MHz until September 2020), on DAB+, via cable and as a worldwide livestream. It is listened to by more than one million people daily.

Ownership

Radio Hamburg GmbH is owned by Axel Springer SE (35%), RTL Group (29.17%), Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG (25%) and minor shareholders including Lühmanndruck and Morgenpost Verlag. MORE Marketing GmbH is its own advertising marketer.

Digital Presence

The station operates radiohamburg.de with a livestream, ticket service and online shop alongside apps and social media channels, extending its music programme to listeners beyond the terrestrial footprint. The digital offering carries the station's hits, Hamburg news and services on demand.

Leinen Los: The 1986 Launch

Radio Hamburg is Hamburg's local private radio, broadcasting since 31 December 1986. At the launch celebration at the Hotel Atlantic, the station was introduced to the public with the words "Leinen los!" ("Cast off!") — and the actual programme started at 0:01 a.m. on 1 January 1987 from the Admiralstraße 10 studio, with "Reeperbahn" by Vicky Leandros as the first song. The maritime metaphor suited the Hanseatic city: Radio Hamburg became the audio companion of the Elbe metropolis. The station is owned by a consortium of Axel Springer SE, RTL Group and Heinrich Bauer Verlag; its studios are on Burchardplatz in the city centre (previously in the Speicherstadt from 2004, and originally at Admiralstraße). The morning show is hosted by Christian Stübinger and Claudia "Clöö" Kram. With over a million listeners daily, Radio Hamburg is one of Germany's most-listened-to local private stations.

The Hitmarathons

Since 1987 the station has staged the "Top 800 Osterhitmarathon" every Easter — 800 listener-voted hits over the holiday weekend, a tradition running for nearly four decades. From 2013 the Whitsun ("Pfingsten") marathon became the "Radio Hamburg Top 830" with 830 songs; it kept that number for 20 years until 2017, and since 2018 the listeners vote for the Top 820. The hitmarathons are the station's signature events: days of countdown radio in which Hamburg votes its favourite hits up and down the ranking — a participatory ritual that binds the audience to the station.

Hörer helfen Kindern

In 1989 Radio Hamburg founded the charity "Hörer helfen Kindern e. V." ("Listeners help children"), which has since collected well over 3 million euros for children in need in the Hamburg region. The station's community engagement goes further: the "Kiezreport" with streetworker Mucki Pinzner reports from Hamburg's neighbourhoods, the Easter quiz "Geld oder Frühstück" is a beloved on-air game, and "Wer schlägt John" is a long-running listener contest. The campaign "Hamburg hört hin" ("Hamburg pays attention") addresses civic issues. In 2014 the station family grew with Hamburg 2, the second programme for the Hanseatic city. Radio Hamburg is received on FM 104.0 MHz in Hamburg, on DAB+, via cable and as a worldwide livestream.

Hamburg's First Licensed Private Broadcaster

Radio Hamburg (RHH) is Hamburg's private radio station — "Euer Musiksender Nummer 1!" ("Your music station number 1!"). It went on air on 31 December 1986 at 11:00 a.m. as the first licensed private broadcaster in Hamburg: first with the recorded announcement "Radio Hamburg, Leinen los!" ("Radio Hamburg, cast off!"), then the first live presentation in the station's history by Frank-Dieter Tausch and Carola Oppermann. In the early days music was played from records, gradually fed into a computer. The station started with a 40-strong workforce; its first programme director was Rainer Cabanis. It had been built by the Heinrich-Bauer-Verlag, the Axel-Springer-Verlag and the Ufa, and began operations announcing its aim at the 15- to 45-year-old audience, with a music share of around 70 percent and news every full hour (every half hour in the morning). Curiously, the name Radio Hamburg had already been used after the Second World War by a broadcaster organised by the British occupying power — the later Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR).

Four Decades of the Hanseatic Hit Radio

Today the owners are Axel Springer SE, the RTL Group, the Heinrich Bauer Verlag and the Hamburger Morgenpost; the managing director is Patrick Bernstein, the programme director Niklas Naujok and the editor-in-chief Rainer Hirsch (Marzel Becker left as programme director and managing director in July 2022). The station broadcasts from Spitalerstraße 10 / Semperhaus A in 20095 Hamburg. Its format is a contemporary hit radio for Hamburg and surroundings: chart music, strong local service, traffic and weather, and the morning show that has long been the station's calling card. Receivable terrestrially (FM and DAB+), in cable networks, as web radio, in the app and on smart speakers, Radio Hamburg remains the commercial flagship of the Hanseatic city — the station that proved, on New Year's Eve 1986, that private radio could work in Germany's biggest northern metropolis.

The station's ownership reflects Hamburg's publishing city: the Bauer and Springer publishing houses that built it still hold stakes alongside the RTL Group and the Hamburger Morgenpost, tying the hit radio to the newsrooms of some of Germany's biggest print titles. And the name itself carries history — Radio Hamburg first sounded from a British-organised postwar broadcaster before the private station claimed it in 1986. Four decades on, the formula announced at launch still holds: around 70 percent music, news every hour, half-hourly in the morning, aimed at the city's 15- to 45-year-olds — Hamburg's private radio original.