About Antenne Schlager

Antenne Schlager

Antenne Schlager is a German schlager radio station broadcasting from Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, with a 24-hour entertainment specialty programme built around German-language schlager music. Launched on 13 July 2023, the station is operated by Antenne Niedersachsen GmbH & Co. KG — the company behind the statewide private broadcaster Antenne Niedersachsen — and transmits via DAB+ digital radio across Lower Saxony, Hamburg and Bremen, reaching some 10.6 million people technically, alongside a worldwide internet stream. Its motto, "Fühlt Euch gut!" — feel good — captures the format: current schlager hits mixed with beloved cult classics, presented with music-world news, lifestyle topics, a daily horoscope and hourly news bulletins. In August 2024 the station received an unlimited nationwide broadcasting licence, clearing the way for distribution as a Germany-wide DAB+ programme.

Overview

Antenne Schlager serves one of the most loyal audiences in German radio: schlager fans. The format is a high-energy, feel-good mix spanning current pop-schlager — artists such as Helene Fischer, whose "Null auf 100" was the first song played at launch — through the cult hits of past decades, from the ZDF-Hitparade era to today's party schlager. The programme is aimed at a core target group of 25- to 54-year-olds and is characterized by a high proportion of music, supplemented by hourly news, moderated shows, music-world information, lifestyle topics and the daily Antenne Schlager horoscope, a fixed programme element. The schlager genre's particular strength in Germany — its multigenerational appeal, from the Schlager parties of student towns to the arena tours that fill the country's largest halls — gives the station a naturally broad audience base, and the Hanover studios sit in a city with its own strong schlager tradition, not least through the annual Schlager events that draw tens of thousands to the region.

Distribution is digital-first: DAB+ across Lower Saxony, Hamburg and Bremen — including the Hanover multiplex where the station broadcasts alongside Antenne Niedersachsen, radio ffn, 89.0 RTL and others — plus the live stream at antenne-schlager.de, the station app and aggregator platforms. The studios are located at Goseriede 9 in central Hanover, in the heart of the city's media quarter. As a commercial private broadcaster, Antenne Schlager is financed through advertising, marketed within the sales structures of the Antenne Niedersachsen group.

History

The station's origins lie in the web radio "Antenne Niedersachsen – Schlager", a pure music stream the group had operated online. On 31 March 2022 the assembly of the Niedersächsische Landesmedienanstalt (NLM) unanimously granted Antenne Niedersachsen an unlimited licence to operate and distribute the "Antenne Schlager" specialty programme statewide, primarily via DAB+. More than a year of preparation followed, during which the team — in the words of founder and managing director Carsten Hoyer — rediscovered its love of schlager while building the new station.

The official launch came on 13 July 2023 at 10 a.m. in Hanover. Moderator Tom Meyer's first official words were "Herzlich willkommen bei Antenne Schlager!" — warmly welcome to Antenne Schlager — before the whole team gathered in the studio counted down to Helene Fischer's "Null auf 100" as the first song. Meyer, who as a boy had stood in front of the television with a microphone mimicking Dieter Thomas Heck's ZDF-Hitparade and rediscovered his passion for schlager at a major schlager festival, was presented as the face of the new morning offering. Programme director Benni Kostal framed the launch around the "Fühlt Euch gut!" motto: helping listeners forget everyday worries with current schlager hits and favourite cult classics in crystal-clear digital sound.

A further milestone came on 28 August 2024, when the NLM — on a decision of the Kommission für Zulassung und Aufsicht (ZAK) — granted Antenne Niedersachsen GmbH & Co. KG an unlimited licence for the nationwide distribution of "Antenne Schlager" as a Germany-wide radio specialty programme, to be receivable via DAB+ and via live stream on the station's website, external sites and the app. The station thus evolved from a northern German DAB+ service into a nationally licensed schlager brand, joining the small group of German genre stations with ambitions beyond their home region.

Programming

The music programme is the heart of Antenne Schlager: current schlager hits and beloved cult classics in heavy rotation, from contemporary pop-schlager stars to the evergreens of the genre's television heyday. The presentation is upbeat, warm and participatory, with moderated shows structuring the day — including the morning show built around Tom Meyer — and listener interaction through requests and greetings. The daily Antenne Schlager horoscope is a fixed ritual, alongside rubrics covering the schlager world: new releases, tour news, artist stories and the gossip and glamour of the genre.

Information and lifestyle topics round out the entertainment specialty format: news from the music world, lifestyle features, and hourly news bulletins providing national and international headlines. The overall tone is deliberately escapist — "Fühlt Euch gut!" as a programming philosophy — offering listeners a feel-good alternative to news-driven radio. The station also positions itself around the live schlager calendar, covering the major festivals and tours that structure the genre's year, from the big arena shows to the summer open-airs. Competitions and ticket giveaways for schlager concerts are a regular feature, tying the on-air programme directly to the live experience that defines the genre's fan culture.

Organization and Ownership

Antenne Schlager is operated by Antenne Niedersachsen GmbH & Co. KG, the Hanover-based company behind the statewide private broadcaster Antenne Niedersachsen. The founder and managing director is Carsten Hoyer, with Benni Kostal serving as programme director. The station is part of the group's growing digital portfolio, which has expanded from the main Antenne Niedersachsen programme into genre-specific DAB+ brands.

Licensing rests with the Niedersächsische Landesmedienanstalt: the statewide licence was granted on 31 March 2022, and the unlimited nationwide licence followed on 28 August 2024 on the basis of a ZAK decision, authorizing Germany-wide distribution via DAB+ and streaming. As a commercial private broadcaster, Antenne Schlager is financed through radio advertising. The studios at Goseriede 9 in Hanover house the station's presentation and production alongside the group's other operations.

Digital Presence

The station's website at antenne-schlager.de is the central digital hub, carrying the live stream, programme information, presenter profiles, schlager news and lifestyle content. The stream makes the station available worldwide, serving schlager fans far beyond the DAB+ footprint of Lower Saxony, Hamburg and Bremen. A dedicated app brings the programme to smartphones, and the station is listed on all major radio aggregators and smart-speaker platforms.

On social media Antenne Schlager maintains active channels with the visual language of the schlager world — artist news, concert announcements, behind-the-scenes studio content and listener campaigns — under the "Fühlt Euch gut!" banner. The website functions as a schlager news portal in its own right, extending the on-air music-world coverage into articles and galleries. The station's presenters engage directly with the schlager community online, sharing backstage impressions from festivals and tours and keeping the conversation with fans going between the moderated shows. For a station that launched as a digital-native DAB+ brand, the online ecosystem of stream, app, website and social channels is not supplementary but central: Antenne Schlager was built from the start as a multi-platform schlager brand for the streaming age, with the Hanover studios producing content designed to travel seamlessly from the DAB+ dial to the smartphone.