About SRB

SRB

SRB — "das Bürgerradio im Städtedreieck" — is the citizen radio station for Saalfeld, Rudolstadt and Bad Blankenburg in Thuringia, broadcasting on 105.2 FM since 1 July 2015. As a Bürgerradio, it belongs to Thuringia's distinctive non-commercial broadcasting sector: a station made by citizens for citizens, where volunteers produce the programme and the remit is local participation rather than profit. Its licence, granted by the Thüringer Landesmedienanstalt (TLM), currently runs to 31 December 2027. The station serves the Städtedreieck — the "city triangle" of three historic towns on the Saale — with local journalism, cultural features, music programmes and civic debate, giving a broadcast voice to a region between the Thuringian Forest and the Saale valley. For the people of Saalfeld, Rudolstadt and Bad Blankenburg, SRB is their own station in the most literal sense.

Overview

SRB is a non-commercial citizen radio station (Bürgerradio) based in Saalfeld, Thuringia, serving the Städtedreieck of Saalfeld, Rudolstadt and Bad Blankenburg. It broadcasts on the FM frequency 105.2 MHz and via internet livestream, with its programme produced overwhelmingly by volunteer citizens from the region. The format is open and varied: local news and magazine programmes, cultural features, talk and discussion, church and community programming, and music shows spanning the volunteers' diverse tastes. As a Bürgerradio, SRB carries no advertising and is financed through the Thuringian citizen-media funding system, donations and the voluntary labour of its programme makers. The station is licensed by the Thüringer Landesmedienanstalt (TLM), with the current licence period extending to 31 December 2027. Its remit is defined by citizen participation: the station exists to enable the people of the Städtedreieck to make radio themselves.

History

SRB went on air on 1 July 2015, the product of civic initiative in the Städtedreieck. Thuringia has a well-developed tradition of Bürgerradios — non-commercial stations that complement the state's public and commercial broadcasters — and the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt-Bad Blankenburg area, with its three historic towns in close proximity, was a natural candidate for such a station. The founding association brought together engaged citizens, cultural activists and media enthusiasts who shared the conviction that their region deserved its own broadcast voice. The early years were devoted to the practical work of building a station from scratch: equipping studios, training the first generation of volunteer programme makers, establishing the schedule and making the station known in the three towns.

Since 2015, SRB has grown into an established part of the region's media landscape. Generations of volunteers have learned radio craft in its studios — moderation, interviewing, audio editing, programme planning — and the station has covered a decade of regional life: local elections, the cultural highlights of three towns rich in history (from the Saalfelder Feengrotten to the Rudolstadt theatre tradition), the challenges of rural infrastructure, and the arrival of new residents. The TLM's licensing framework for Thuringian citizen media provided the regulatory stability for this growth, with the current licence running to the end of 2027. The station cooperates with Thuringia's other Bürgerradios and citizen-media outlets, participating in programme exchange and joint training. As of the mid-2020s, SRB continues broadcasting as the citizen radio of the Städtedreieck, approaching its eleventh year on air with a volunteer community that renews itself each year.

Programming

SRB's programme is a mosaic of volunteer-made content reflecting the interests of the Städtedreieck's citizens. Local journalism is a core element: magazine programmes report on the politics of the three towns and the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district, covering council decisions, infrastructure projects, school and healthcare issues, and the everyday concerns of the region's residents. Cultural programming draws on the area's rich heritage — the historic old towns, the Feengrotten show caves, the Heidecksburg palace, the theatre and festival traditions — alongside contemporary arts, music and literature. Churches and religious communities, clubs and associations, and social initiatives all find airtime, reflecting the station's role as a forum for the region's civic life.

Music shows span the volunteers' enthusiasms: oldies, folk, rock, pop, classical, brass band music and specialist genres, often presented by hosts with deep personal knowledge. Talk and discussion formats address social and political topics, giving citizens a platform for debate that commercial stations rarely provide. Youth programming offers young people from the region their own slots, and school cooperations bring media education into the classroom. Open-access principles mean that any citizen can propose a programme, subject to the station's editorial standards and training requirements — the democratic heart of the Bürgerradio idea. Special broadcasts mark elections, town festivals and the station's own anniversaries. The schedule's variety — different voices and concerns from hour to hour — is the audible signature of citizen radio: SRB sounds like the Städtedreieck talking to itself.

Organization and Ownership

SRB is organised as a non-profit association (Verein), the standard form for Thuringian citizen media. The association's members — programme makers, supporters and engaged citizens — form the station's democratic base, electing the board and shaping the station's development. There are no commercial owners; the station belongs, in the truest sense, to its community. Operations combine volunteer leadership with the practical coordination needed to run a broadcast station: programme scheduling, technical maintenance, volunteer training and administration. New programme makers complete introductory courses in radio production before going on air, a media-literacy function central to the citizen-media mission.

Financing follows the Thuringian Bürgerradio model: the stations are supported through the state's citizen-media funding, supplemented by membership fees, donations and project grants. No advertising is broadcast. The Thüringer Landesmedienanstalt (TLM) licenses the station — the current licence extends to 31 December 2027 — supervises compliance with broadcasting law and provides the frequency allocation documented in the TLM's frequency maps. The station cooperates with Thuringia's citizen-media network for training, programme exchange and political representation. Publicly confirmed details of the association's current board and membership numbers are limited, but SRB's continuous operation since July 2015 demonstrates a stable civic organisation. The 105.2 FM frequency, listed in the TLM's official frequency documentation for the Städtedreieck, anchors the station technically in the region it serves.

Digital Presence

SRB's website, srb.fm, is the station's digital home, with the news section carrying current stories from the Städtedreieck. The site presents the programme schedule, introduces the station's concept and history, and provides the essential information for prospective volunteers — how citizen radio works, how to get involved, who to contact. The livestream extends the 105.2 FM signal beyond its terrestrial range, making SRB audible to former residents, commuters and anyone interested in the region, while on-demand archives give selected programmes a life beyond the broadcast hour.

Social media channels carry the station's daily communication: programme announcements, local news updates, event tips for Saalfeld, Rudolstadt and Bad Blankenburg, and glimpses of volunteer life in the studios. For a citizen station, these platforms serve a dual purpose — audience outreach and volunteer recruitment, since each year's new programme makers must be found and welcomed. The website's news section functions as a local online newspaper for the Städtedreieck, complementing the broadcast with text and images. Together, the FM signal, the stream, the archive and the social channels make SRB a multi-platform citizen medium: rooted in the volunteer studios of Saalfeld, but present wherever the people of the Städtedreieck gather, on air or online. Training materials and handbooks published online support the station's media-education mission, helping new volunteers learn radio craft at their own pace.