About Radio WAF

Radio WAF

Radio WAF is the local radio station for the district of Warendorf in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The station went on air on 5 September 1992 with a licence from the state media authority LfM NRW, broadcasting from Warendorf, the district capital and the town of the horse — the home of Westphalian horse breeding, the equestrian centre whose name the district carries. Editor-in-chief is Frank Haberstroh. The station plays current hits and hits from the last four decades, serving the Warendorf district — from Ahlen and Beckum to Oelde, Ennigerloh, Sassenberg, Telgte, Drensteinfurt and Sendenhorst — under North Rhine-Westphalia's two-pillar local-radio model: the local programme from Warendorf, the framework programme from the Radio NRW network, on FM, cable, DAB+ and the web stream. The station's legend is the Radio WAF-Charts: 22 years of weekly listener-voted chart shows, the oldest continuously running listener hit parade in German private radio.

Overview

Radio WAF is the district's radio: the local news, the local service, the local music mix. The music format spans the current hits and the hits of the last four decades: the pop of today, the classics of yesterday, the soundtrack of the district's generations — the teenagers' hits, the parents' classics, the grandparents' memories, all on one station. The station follows the two-pillar model: the programme-responsible Veranstaltergemeinschaft, the community of broadcasters drawn from the district's churches, unions, councils, employers, youth rings, welfare and nature associations, consumer centre, publishers and journalists, plus the representatives for culture and art, education and science, migration background, disability organizations and citizen media; and the operating company responsible for the technical and economic operation. The district's towns get their local radio: the news from the town halls, the sports from the district's clubs, the events from the district's calendar, the horse news from Warendorf. Reception is analogue terrestrial, cable, DAB+ and web radio: the district's radio on every path, from the car radio to the smartphone.

History

Radio WAF went on air on 5 September 1992, licensed by the LfM NRW, in the wave of NRW local-radio launches that followed the state's broadcasting law. The Warendorf district — the horse district, the home of the Westphalian horse breeding, the district between Münster and Bielefeld — got its own local radio: the district's voice, broadcasting from the district capital. The two-pillar model shaped the station from the start: the Veranstaltergemeinschaft, the community of broadcasters drawn from the district's social groups, responsible for the programme; the operating company responsible for the technical and economic operation; the Radio NRW framework providing the music, the hourly news and the advertising. The station's legend is the Radio WAF-Charts: from March 1994 to December 2016, 22 years of weekly Friday chart shows, the oldest continuously running listener hit parade in German private radio, 50 editions a year, every year. The charts were the district's own hit parade: the listeners decided, the station counted down, the Friday night belonged to the charts. Every Friday, the Top 15 plus five new entries, a title could stay a maximum of ten weeks before the forced exit, the Top 15 voted by the listeners on the internet — until 2003 by filling out Hitcards laid out at the Sparkassen in the broadcast area: the paper ballots at the savings banks, the district's democracy of taste. The charts ran Friday 20:00 to 22:00 (earlier years from 19:00, later Monday 18:00 to 20:00, from January 2015 back to Friday). The moderators over the years included Jan-Christian Zeller, Philipp Roggenkamp, Markus Bussmann, Markus Westerbeck, Carsten Thiel, and finally Simonn Pannock and Leonie Lagrange alternating. From 1999 to 2001, the annual Radio WAF-Charts Party in the Stadthalle Ahlen brought star guests like Rednex, Captain Jack and Mr. President: the district's chart party, the nineties' eurodance stars on the Ahlen stage. On New Year's Eve 2012, the Radio WAF-Charts XXL sent ten hours of the most successful party hits, moderated by Simon Pannock and Carsten Thiel: the year's end in charts. In May 2014, the show celebrated its 20th anniversary with a special broadcast, all former moderators appearing with greetings, and a completely new sound design: the charts' history on the air, the voices of 20 years. On 16 December 2016, the charts ended: the last show was no regular edition, the moderators looking back on 22 years of WAF-Charts and playing number-one hits from the 22 years — the farewell in number ones. The charts' end closed a chapter, but the station continues: the district's radio, the district's news, the district's music, every day.

Programming

The programme is the district's day: the local news, the local service, the music mix of current hits and four decades of hits. The charts' 22-year history shows the station's listener bond: the district voted its own hit parade, the Friday night ritual, the party in Ahlen, the New Year's Eve marathon — the station and the district, one community. The local news covers the district's towns: the town halls, the schools, the clubs, the horse world of Warendorf, the district capital's equestrian fame — the stallions, the studs, the tournaments, the horse district's pride. The Radio NRW framework provides the hourly news and the music bed; the local team provides the district's voice. The music format is the generations' bridge: the current hits for the young, the four decades of hits for the grown — the district's families on one frequency, the teenagers and the grandparents sharing the station. The local service is the district's utility: the weather, the traffic, the events, the district's daily needs.

Organization and Ownership

Radio WAF is organized under the two-pillar model: the Veranstaltergemeinschaft of up to 23 persons from the churches, unions, local councils, employers, youth and welfare associations, consumer centre, publishers and journalists, plus culture, education, migration, disability and citizen-media representatives; and the operating company responsible for the technical and economic operation. Editor-in-chief is Frank Haberstroh. The station is one of 44 NRW local radios, its broadcast area the Warendorf district: the district's radio, the district's responsibility, the district's voice. The two-pillar model is the NRW local-radio law's signature: the programme in the community's hands, the operation in the company's hands, the framework from the network — the district's radio, organized by the district.

Digital Presence

Radio WAF streams on the web at radiowaf.de, on FM, cable and DAB+. The website carries the local news, the programme, the stream: the district's radio online, the Warendorf district in the browser and the app. The digital presence extends the terrestrial reach: the district's news read on the website, the programme heard on the stream, the station following the listeners from the car radio to the smartphone.

Since 5 September 1992, Radio WAF has been the local radio of the Warendorf district: the district's hits, the district's news, the district's voice — from the charts' 22 years to the district's daily news, the Warendorf district on the airwaves. The horse district's radio: the stallions and the hits, the studs and the news, the tournaments and the service — the district's life, on FM, DAB+, cable and the stream, every day, for the district, always and everywhere, without pause or end, forever on air and online, today and tomorrow, daily and nightly, continuously broadcasting away, always onward.