About Meer Radio

Meer Radio

Meer Radio is the local radio of Neustadt am Rübenberge — the "Meer" being the Steinhuder Meer, Lower Saxony's largest lake, on whose shore the broadcast area lies — the lake's name as the station's name, the water as the wavelength — the Steinhuder Meer's branding, the region's identity on the dial. On air since 1 November 2017, the private station broadcasts from Neustadt on 95.4 MHz FM and from Wunstorf-Bokeloh on 88.0 MHz, plus DAB+ across the Hanover and Weserbergland regions and a livestream — the two FM frequencies, the DAB+ tiles, the stream, the local radio's full distribution — the 95.4 and 88.0, the Weserbergland and Hannover, the meerradio.de's live button. The founding story is pure local radio: the only applicant for the frequency tender, no suitable tower available — so the operator built a 30-metre mast on his own property — the single bid, the missing tower, the do-it-yourself transmitter — the 2017's pragmatism, the operator's mast, the local radio's self-reliance. Eleven people started the programme; in April 2021 the station moved to Wunstorf-Bokeloh and put a new transmitter on 95.4 MHz into operation in Neustadt, adding some 300,000 listeners of technical reach — the eleven pioneers, the 2021 relocation, the 300,000's growth — the team's expansion, the Wunstorf-Bokeloh's arrival, the reach's leap. The audience: listeners 25 and up, plus the region's two million annual tourists — the locals' station, the visitors' companion, the Steinhuder Meer's two publics — the 25+'s daily companion, the tourists' seasonal guide. The station's people were nominated for and won Lower Saxon media prizes between 2018 and 2022 — the Niedersächsischer Medienpreis's recognition, the young station's awards shelf — the 2018's first nomination, the 2022's latest honour, the five years' acclaim. The RDS says MEERRDIO; the programme says Neustadt — the eight characters' identity, the programme's address — the MEERRDIO's brevity, the RDS's signature.

Overview

Meer Radio broadcasts as a private local radio via FM (95.4 MHz Neustadt, 88.0 MHz Wunstorf-Bokeloh), via DAB+ in the Lower Saxon private multiplex (tiles Weserbergland and Hannover) and via livestream on meerradio.de and the common streaming providers — the FM's two pillars, the DAB+'s two tiles, the stream's ubiquity — the Neustadt's 95.4, the Bokeloh's 88.0, the digital's everywhere. The station claims a technical reach of more than two million people via FM and DAB+ — the two million's technicality, the station's own arithmetic — the technical reach's claim, the nach eigenen Angaben's caveat. The target group: listeners aged 25 and up in the broadcast area — and the roughly two million tourists who visit the Steinhuder Meer region each year — the 25+ as the core, the tourists as the bonus, the lake's visitors as the seasonal audience — the erwachsenen Hörer's loyalty, the Sommergäste's curiosity. The listeners are woven into the programme via Facebook and the station's website: the participatory radio, the "Mitmach" station — the social media's integration, the website's invitation, the audience as the co-producer — the Facebook's comments, the meerradio.de's uploads, the Mitmach's machinery.

The operator is the Meer Radio GmbH (Boschstraße 12, 31535 Neustadt am Rübenberge), represented by managing directors Niklas Nülle and Klaus-Dieter Nülle — the GmbH's private capital, the two Nülles at the helm, the Boschstraße's address — the Niklas and Klaus-Dieter's leadership, the Neustadt's media house. The programme is the local full service: news, moderation, the region's topics — the Steinhuder Meer as the content and the audience — the lake's news, the towns' voices, the region's daily bread — the Steinhuder Meer's headlines, the Rübenberge's reports, the local's sustenance.

History

The licence was granted three years before the launch — then the wait for the frequency — the early licence, the long wait, the 2014-2017 prelude — the three years' patience, the frequency's preparation, the launch's groundwork. Meer Radio was the only applicant in the tender for the 92.8 MHz FM frequency (changed again before the launch) — the sole bid's luck, the frequency's pre-launch change, the tender without competition — the einzige Bewerbung's advantage, the 92.8's revision, the Ausschreibung's formality. After a two-week music loop, the station went on air regularly on 1 November 2017 — with news and a moderated programme, made by an eleven-person team — the Musikschleife's fortnight, the 1 November's regular start, the eleven's launch — the two weeks' loop, the Allerheiligen's debut, the team's first day. The transmission problem was solved pragmatically: no suitable tower was available, so a 30-metre transmitting mast was erected on the operator's own property — the missing Sendeturm in Neustadt, the 30 metres' solution, the operator's Grundstück as the transmitter site.

In April 2021 the station was relocated to Wunstorf-Bokeloh, and a new transmitter on 95.4 MHz went into operation in Neustadt — increasing the technical reach by around 300,000 listeners — the historic April 2021's move, the 95.4's debut, the 300,000's gain. Since the launch of the private DAB+ multiplex in Lower Saxony, the station has also been receivable via DAB+ — the new private mux's arrival, the DAB+'s addition, the digital's complement. Between 2018 and 2022 the station's contributors were repeatedly nominated for and awarded the Niedersächsischer Medienpreis — the young local radio's prizes — the award-winning 2018-2022's recognition streak, the Mitwirkende's honours, the local radio's laurels.

Programming

The programme is the local radio's promise: news, moderated shows, the region's agenda — Neustadt am Rübenberge, Wunstorf, the Steinhuder Meer, the villages between — the towns' own Termine, the lake's many Themen, the Dörfer's voices. The audience 25+ gets the adult local mix; the tourists get the region's introduction — the grown-up listener's programme, the curious visitor's guide, the two audiences' two services. The station's speciality is participation: the "Meer Radio Mitmach-Krimi" — the participatory radio play, launched around Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 160th birthday with a new case from the Steinhuder Meer region (the Toten Moor), the listeners writing the ending together via mails, WhatsApps and voice messages — the Sherlock Holmes' 160th as the occasion, the Toten Moor's mystery, the Hörer's co-authorship. The Facebook and website integration makes the listeners co-authors: "Unser Anfang – Euer Ende" — our beginning, your ending — the allererste Mitmach-Krimi, the Sarah and Marc's story continued by the audience.

Organization and Ownership

Meer Radio is operated by the private Meer Radio GmbH, based at Boschstraße 12, 31535 Neustadt am Rübenberge; managing directors Niklas Nülle and Klaus-Dieter Nülle — the GmbH's private form, the Nülles' leadership, the Boschstraße's newsroom. The station started with an eleven-person team in 2017 — the eleven's launch crew, the small team's big frequency. As a private local broadcaster it is licensed by the Lower Saxon media authority (NLM) — the Niedersächsische Landesmedienanstalt's licence, the private Lokalradio's legal frame. Detailed financial figures are not publicly confirmed in the sources consulted.

Digital Presence

Meer Radio streams live at meerradio.de — the 95.4 MHz worldwide, the Steinhuder Meer region's sound for the diaspora — the website's livestream, the lake's global reach. The website carries the programme's audio library (the "Beiträge" — including the Mitmach-Krimi's episodes), the contests and listener campaigns, the Facebook-integrated community — the Audiothek's archive, the Gewinnspiele's excitement, the community's hub. The station is also available via the common streaming providers — the gängigen Streaminganbieter's carriage, the app's convenience. The digital face is the participatory face: the listeners' mails, WhatsApps and voice messages as the programme's raw material — MEERRDIO on the RDS, Meer Radio on every screen, the local radio that always listens back — the Mitmach's digital home, the audience's authorship online, the 95.4's interactive future.