About Vogtland Radio

Vogtland Radio

Vogtland Radio has been the private local radio voice of the Vogtland region since 28 September 1998, broadcasting from its Funkhaus in Plauen-Haselbrunn to listeners across West Saxony, the Thuringian Vogtland and Upper Franconia. With its slogan "Hier sind Sie zu Hause" (Here you are at home), the station cultivates an intimate regional identity, addressing the 29-to-59 core audience with an adult-contemporary music format and dense local journalism: half-hourly headlines on weekdays, hourly news, traffic and reports from the Vogtland, West Saxony and East Thuringia. As a member of the Sachsen Funkpaket and the Sachsen-Hit-Kombi advertising networks, it combines a fully self-produced 24-hour programme with the economic muscle of Saxony's private-radio cooperation. For more than a quarter-century, Vogtland Radio has been the audible home of a region defined by musical-instrument craftsmanship, textile heritage and a strong local patriotism.

Overview

Vogtland Radio is a regional private radio station based in Plauen, Saxony, serving the Vogtland region across parts of Saxony, Thuringia and Bavaria. The station broadcasts from its Funkhaus in the Haselbrunn district of Plauen and is receivable via FM, DAB+ digital radio, cable networks and internet livestream. Its coverage area spans West Saxony, the Vogtland proper, East Thuringia (the Thuringian Vogtland) and parts of Upper Franconia. The format is adult contemporary: melodic pop hits and familiar favourites aimed at the 29-to-59 demographic, combined with a strong local-information offering. The station's slogan, "Vogtland Radio – Hier sind Sie zu Hause," expresses its positioning as the region's home station. The 24-hour programme is produced entirely in-house at the Plauen Funkhaus, without external programme supply. Vogtland Radio is licensed by the Sächsische Landesmedienanstalt (SLM), with the Thüringer Landesmedienanstalt (TLM) responsible for supervisory matters in the Thuringian coverage area.

History

Vogtland Radio went on air on 28 September 1998, in the second wave of private local radio licensing in Saxony. By the late 1990s, the Saxon commercial radio market was taking its mature shape: the statewide networks were established, and the focus shifted to regional stations serving distinct cultural and economic areas. The Vogtland — the historic region spanning the Saxon-Thuringian-Bavarian border triangle, famous for its musical-instrument makers in Markneukirchen and Klingenthal and its textile industry around Plauen — was such an area: culturally cohesive, economically distinctive and large enough to support its own station. The Funkhaus in Plauen-Haselbrunn became the station's home, and the Haselbrunner Straße address remains its base today.

Over more than 25 years, the station accompanied the region through economic transformation — the restructuring of the post-reunification economy, the evolution of the musical-instrument craft into a global niche industry, the development of tourism in the Vogtland hills — and through the media industry's own upheavals. The programme remained true to its founding formula: locally produced, musically mainstream, journalistically close to the region. Membership in the Sachsen Funkpaket and the Sachsen-Hit-Kombi embedded the station in Saxony's private-radio advertising cooperation, securing the economic foundation for its independent programme production. The expansion onto DAB+ digital radio added a modern distribution path alongside FM, and the internet livestream extended the station's reach to Vogtländer living elsewhere. As of the mid-2020s, Vogtland Radio continues broadcasting as one of Saxony's established regional stations, with a widest-listener-circle reach reported at 244,000 — a substantial audience for a regional private station.

Programming

Vogtland Radio's programme is built for its 29-to-59 core audience: adult-contemporary music — the melodic pop of recent decades and current hits selected for broad appeal — flowing through a day structured by regular information. On weekdays, headlines air every half hour, with full news bulletins hourly; evenings and weekends bring hourly news. Traffic and weather serve the region's commuters and travellers across the three-state coverage area. The journalistic focus is resolutely regional: reports and features come predominantly from the Vogtland, West Saxony, East Thuringia and Upper Franconia — the districts, towns and villages whose names the listeners recognise as home.

The programme's dayparts follow the familiar local-radio architecture: a morning show launching the region into the day, midday programming for the at-work audience, an afternoon drive show and evening music stretches. Local events receive close coverage — from the Markneukirchen instrument-making competitions to Plauen's city festivals, from winter sports in the region's hills to the club life of its towns. Service journalism — consumer tips, health topics, job information — addresses everyday needs. The station's presenters are regional voices, known to the audience and present at local events, embodying the "Hier sind Sie zu Hause" promise. The 24-hour programme's fully self-produced character — no syndicated network feed, everything made in Plauen-Haselbrunn — is a point of pride and a distinguishing feature in an era of increasing programme centralisation.

Organization and Ownership

Vogtland Radio is operated by the Vogtland Radio Rundfunkgesellschaft mbH u. Co. Studiobetriebs KG, a limited partnership based in Plauen, with Claus-Tilo Thoß and Brigitte Hamann identified in its management. The company's seat at Haselbrunner Straße in Plauen-Haselbrunn houses the Funkhaus where the entire programme is produced. This owner-operator structure — a dedicated regional company rather than a branch of a national chain — reflects the station's founding logic: a Vogtland station owned and run in the Vogtland. The business model is advertising-financed, with the station's regional reach — a widest listener circle of 244,000 — making it an attractive medium for businesses in West Saxony, East Thuringia and Upper Franconia.

Crucially, the station participates in Saxony's private-radio advertising networks: it is a combination member of the Sachsen Funkpaket and the Sachsen-Hit-Kombi, the joint marketing operations that bundle the state's local commercial stations for supra-regional advertisers. This membership gives Vogtland Radio access to national advertising budgets while preserving its independent local programme — the economic formula that has sustained Saxon local radio for three decades. Regulatory oversight is split by coverage area: the Sächsische Landesmedienanstalt (SLM) in Leipzig is the licensing authority, while the Thüringer Landesmedienanstalt (TLM) supervises the Thuringian broadcast area. Cable distribution into Saxon and Thuringian networks extends the station's technical reach beyond terrestrial radio.

Digital Presence

Vogtland Radio's website, vogtlandradio.de, is the station's digital hub, carrying the livestream, regional news, event tips and programme information. The site extends the on-air brand into text and images: the region's daily headlines are available to read, background stories complement the broadcast journalism and the event calendar serves as a guide to the Vogtland's cultural life. The livestream makes the station available worldwide — to Vogtländer who have moved away, to the merely curious and to the region's many visitors planning their trips — while carriage on aggregator apps and smart-speaker platforms covers connected listening.

Social media channels provide the station's community layer: programme announcements, regional news updates, photos from local events and the interactive formats — greetings, requests, competitions — that bind the audience to their home station. For a regional broadcaster whose identity is belonging, these platforms are a natural extension of the "Hier sind Sie zu Hause" promise, creating a digital village square for the Vogtland. DAB+ distribution alongside FM secures the station's digital-terrestrial future, with the 88.2–107.5 MHz FM range and DAB+ multiplexes covering the three-state region. Together, the Funkhaus-produced broadcast, the stream, the apps and the social channels form a multi-platform regional brand: Vogtland Radio, the home station, on every device its listeners use. Newsletter updates round out the digital offering, delivering the week's regional highlights directly to subscribers' inboxes.