About Studio 47

Studio 47

Studio 47 (stylised STUDIO 47) is a private regional television channel based in Duisburg, serving the western Ruhr region and the Lower Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia. Launched on 20 March 2006, it was the first regional television broadcaster in the state to receive a broadcasting licence from the Landesanstalt für Medien NRW (LfM), the state media authority. The channel airs a regional full programme around the clock on digital cable and as web TV, with a focus on self-produced magazines, hourly regional news, and cultural formats. In 2026 it celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Overview

Studio 47 occupies a distinctive position in German media: it describes itself as the only private regional television channel in North Rhine-Westphalia, operating in a state where regional television has historically been dominated by the public broadcasters' "third programmes". Its editorial mission is regional journalism for the cities and districts between Duisburg and the Dutch border — Duisburg, Oberhausen, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Moers, Dinslaken, Wesel, and the surrounding Lower Rhine communities — with a stated ambition of rethinking regional TV journalism through innovative technology.

The channel broadcasts daily, around the clock, in standard definition (576i) on the digital cable network of Vodafone NRW (formerly Unitymedia) and as internet television, and is additionally available nationwide via MagentaTV. Its own communications put its reach at around 650,000 viewers.

History

Studio 47 went on the air on 20 March 2006 at 18:00 with a 90-minute inaugural programme broadcast before a live studio audience — a milestone the channel revisited in a 2026 anniversary retrospective looking back at its first transmission. The launch was a media-policy landmark: Studio 47 was the first regional TV broadcaster in North Rhine-Westphalia to be granted a transmission licence by the Landesanstalt für Medien NRW, opening the door for licensed private regional television in Germany's most populous state.

The channel's editorial leadership has been stable: Sascha Devigne serves as managing director alongside Jörg Zeiler and as editor-in-chief. The media commission of the LfM extended the channel's licence in its session of 27 June 2014 for five further years, until the end of 2019, and in 2019 announced a further extension of ten years, until the end of 2029 — giving the broadcaster long-term planning security.

Over the years Studio 47 expanded its distribution step by step. After launching in Duisburg and Düsseldorf-Angermund, it extended in March 2010 into the southern district of Wesel, in January 2018 into the northern district of Wesel and the western Ruhr area including Rees in the Kleve district, and progressively across the Lower Rhine — a growth path documented in the channel's licensing history. A 2018 expansion was reported to have raised its reach from around 320,000 to 550,000 viewers as Oberhausen, Mülheim, Wesel, Voerde, and other areas were added; the channel's current communications cite around 650,000 viewers.

Institutional recognition followed: in 2016 Studio 47 hosted and partnered the German Regional Television Prize (Deutscher Regionalfernsehpreis, "Regiostar") in Duisburg, with the award gala held at the Kulturkirche Liebfrauen on 19 March and broadcast by the participating regional channels across Germany, reaching a million-strong audience through the combined networks. The prize, awarded since 2002 by producer Sebastian Richter (SR-P Fernsehen) in cooperation with the state media authorities, honours outstanding programmes and productions from local and regional television — and its first-ever staging in North Rhine-Westphalia, with around 200 media professionals and invited guests from all federal states expected, underlined Studio 47's standing in the sector. The channel's own press release at the time framed the evening as Duisburg's turn as "the media capital of the state" for one night.

The 2026 anniversary year gave the channel an opportunity to reflect publicly on two decades of regional broadcasting. Its anniversary programming revisited the first transmission of 20 March 2006 — the 90 minutes of live television before a studio audience that launched the station — and traced the subsequent expansion across the western Ruhr and Lower Rhine. For a regional broadcaster operating in the shadow of the WDR, the public broadcaster whose regional "Lokalzeit" editions cover the same territory with far greater resources, twenty years of continuous operation represents a notable achievement of the licensed private regional-television model that Studio 47 pioneered in the state.

Programming

Studio 47's programme is built around self-produced magazine formats. The flagship is "STUDIO 47 .live", the channel's live daily magazine featuring interviews with guests from the region — from local politicians and business figures to cultural personalities and publicists. The weekly review ".die woche" summarises the week's regional events. Further standing formats include "Quinte", "Visite", the cinema guide "filmforum Kinotipp", the cultural programme "Kulturkonserve", and the series "Wo ein Will, da auch ein Weg". Hourly regional news bulletins punctuate the schedule throughout the day.

The channel's editorial approach emphasises proximity: interviews are conducted in its Duisburg studios with people shaping life in the western Ruhr and Lower Rhine, and its reporters cover municipal politics, business, culture, and everyday stories from the coverage area. The 20th-anniversary programming in 2026 looked back on two decades of such regional reporting, from the first 90-minute live broadcast to the present multi-platform operation.

Studio 47 also invests in journalistic training: its "NRW-Reporter" programme offers school leavers and career changers an entry-level course in local and regional journalism, combining theory phases with seminars and workshops at the channel and practical placements with partner companies across North Rhine-Westphalia. The programme covers the various forms of local and regional journalism as well as social media and communications, and is aimed explicitly at those exploring whether the media world of NRW is the right professional home for them — a further expression of the channel's self-understanding as an innovator that develops journalistic talent for the region, not just programmes.

Accessibility has also been part of the channel's public-service profile: Studio 47 has carried the "Duisburger Lokalnachrichten für blinde und sehbehinderte Mitbürgerinnen und Mitbürger" — local news for blind and visually impaired residents, distributed on CD — a format that marked its 40th anniversary, underlining the broadcaster's embeddedness in the civic infrastructure of its home city.

Coverage and Audience

The channel's cable footprint covers Alpen (Lower Rhine), Dinslaken, Duisburg, Düsseldorf-Angermund, Hamminkeln, Hünxe, Kamp-Lintfort, Moers, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Neukirchen-Vluyn, Oberhausen, Rees, Rheinberg, Rheurdt, Schermbeck, Voerde, and Wesel via the Vodafone NRW digital cable network, and it streams around the clock on the internet. Nationwide distribution is provided via MagentaTV and MagentaZuhause. The channel cites a reach of around 650,000 viewers; as a regional cable broadcaster it is not part of national audience measurement, and independent verification of the figure is not publicly available.

Ownership

Studio 47 is operated as a private company under the management of Sascha Devigne and Jörg Zeiler. It is licensed and supervised by the Landesanstalt für Medien NRW, which granted the original licence in 2006 and extended it through the end of 2029. The channel's financing follows the commercial regional-television model of advertising and sponsorship revenues. The European Parliament has listed the channel as a media partner since 2012, reflecting its role as an established regional news medium.

Digital Presence

Studio 47 operates its official website at studio47.de, which carries the livestream, programme information, and the channel's media library, alongside active presences on video and social platforms — including a YouTube channel with extensive archives of "STUDIO 47 .live" editions and anniversary programming. The channel's digital strategy treats web TV as a full second distribution pillar alongside cable: the programme is available online around the clock, and nationwide via MagentaTV's streaming platform, giving viewers outside the cable footprint access to its regional journalism.