About augsburg.tv

augsburg.tv

augsburg.tv (short name a.tv) is the regional television channel for the city of Augsburg and the surrounding Swabian districts of Aichach-Friedberg, Donau-Ries, Dillingen and Günzburg. Broadcasting in high definition via satellite and cable, the channel focuses on local and regional topics relevant to the Augsburg metropolitan area. Its history as a television service goes back to 16 March 1994, when it began as a programme window on RTL, with cable distribution following on 19 September 1995.

Overview

augsburg.tv is a regional special-interest channel (Regionalprogramm) licensed by the Bavarian media authority BLM. Its slogan, "Fernsehen für Augsburg und Schwaben" (television for Augsburg and Swabia), describes its remit: daily reporting on the city of Augsburg — one of Bavaria's three largest cities, with a 2,000-year history as a Roman foundation and Fugger trading metropolis — and the surrounding districts.

The channel transmits in 1080p high definition via satellite and cable. Its sister channel is allgäu.tv (branded "a.tv | fernsehen fürs allgäu"), with which it shares ownership ties and regional-TV expertise.

History

The service began on 16 March 1994 as a regional window within RTL's programme — the standard entry path for Bavarian local television under the state's media law, which allocates weekday 6 p.m. windows on RTL to licensed regional providers. Cable distribution in Augsburg followed on 19 September 1995, and the service grew into a full regional channel under names including TV Augsburg before adopting the augsburg.tv / a.tv brand.

Ownership is anchored in Augsburg's media landscape. Since 1 January 2012, the shareholders of a.tv GmbH & Co. KG have been rt1.media group GmbH with 50.1 percent, the Mediengruppe Sankt Ulrich Verlag with 37.3 percent, and Studio Gong GmbH & Co. Studiobetriebs KG with 19.07 percent. The rt1.media group is itself a subsidiary of the Mediengruppe Pressedruck — the publisher of the Augsburger Allgemeine, one of Germany's major regional newspapers — and manages broadcast holdings including Hitradio RT1. This newspaper-broadcaster cross-ownership is typical of German regional media markets, where publishers have diversified into local radio and television.

The channel was part of the LokalSAT joint satellite platform (with intv, TV Allgäu Nachrichten and Regio TV Schwaben), which broadcast the programmes of three western-Bavarian local stations via satellite from 16 September 2004 until 3 December 2012, when the stations received their own satellite slots.

Programming

augsburg.tv's programming centres on its weekday regional magazine Aktuell, airing in the 6 p.m. window on RTL (per the Bavarian regional-magazine allocation), alongside a full schedule of local news, reports and magazines on its own channel. Coverage spans Augsburg city politics and business, district affairs in Aichach-Friedberg, Donau-Ries, Dillingen and Günzburg, local sports, culture and service topics.

The channel's newsroom works in close coordination with the rt1 media group's radio operations and the Augsburger Allgemeine's editorial resources, giving it access to one of Bavaria's strongest regional news-gathering networks.

Coverage & Audience

augsburg.tv is received via satellite (Astra) and cable networks in its Swabian coverage area, in HD (1080p). Its audience is the population of the Augsburg planning region — the city plus the surrounding districts — viewers with a demonstrated appetite for hyperlocal news in a region where the Augsburger Allgemeine dominates print and Hitradio RT1 dominates local radio.

Ownership

The operating company is a.tv GmbH & Co. KG, owned 50.1 percent by rt1.media group GmbH (Mediengruppe Pressedruck), 37.3 percent by Mediengruppe Sankt Ulrich Verlag and 19.07 percent by Studio Gong. Managing directors have included Holger Haas and Ruth Klaus (with Bernhard Hock and Johann Buchart also recorded in management roles in regulatory filings). The licensing authority is the BLM.

Digital Presence

augsburg.tv operates a website (augsburg.tv, per Wikipedia's listing; not independently load-verified for this profile) with a livestream and on-demand news clips. The channel distributes content via YouTube and social media, and its schedule is listed in electronic programme guides. Its programmes are also discoverable through the rt1 media group's digital portals.

Market Position

In the Augsburg media market, augsburg.tv operates within an integrated regional media ecosystem: the same corporate group (Pressedruck/rt1) controls the leading newspaper, the leading local radio chain and the local TV channel — a concentration that is both a commercial strength and a subject of ongoing media-policy attention in Bavaria. The channel competes for local attention with BR's regional programming, the Augsburger Allgemeine's digital offerings and social-media news sources. Its longevity — three decades since the 1994 RTL window launch — and its HD satellite and cable distribution make it one of the most technically advanced local TV services in Bavaria.

Cross-Media Integration

augsburg.tv's ownership structure makes it a textbook example of German regional media integration. The Mediengruppe Pressedruck, publisher of the Augsburger Allgemeine — one of Germany's largest regional dailies — holds its broadcast interests through the rt1.media group, founded in 1985 as the group's electronic-media arm. Through rt1, the group controls Hitradio RT1 and its sister stations (Nordschwaben, Südschwaben, Neuburg-Schrobenhausen), holds stakes in Top FM, operates the rt1.tv production company with offices in Augsburg, Berlin and Munich, and manages digital radio and web-TV activities.

For augsburg.tv, this integration means shared newsroom resources, joint technical infrastructure and coordinated advertising sales across print, radio, television and digital — a combination that few standalone local TV stations can match. The Mediengruppe Sankt Ulrich Verlag (the Catholic publishing group behind the channel's 37.3 percent stake) and Studio Gong (19.07 percent, a major Bavarian radio programme supplier) add publishing and radio expertise to the shareholder base.

This concentration also illustrates a structural feature of the Bavarian media market: with newspaper publishers diversifying into broadcasting, the boundaries between press, radio and television ownership have blurred, a development that media regulators monitor through ownership transparency rules — the same rules whose breach cost tv.münchen its licence in 2005.

Technical Development

augsburg.tv's technical history tracks the modernisation of German local television. The service began in 1994 as an analogue programme window within RTL's schedule, added analogue cable distribution in 1995, and participated from 2004 in the LokalSAT joint satellite platform — a BLM-supported project that pooled the satellite capacity of three western-Bavarian local stations (intv from Ingolstadt, TV Allgäu Nachrichten from Kempten and Regio TV Schwaben from Ulm, alongside the Augsburg service) on a shared transponder. LokalSAT broadcast regional programmes daily from 6 p.m. to midnight, with three one-hour blocks from Augsburg and half-hour programmes from Kempten and Ingolstadt, until December 2012, when the stations moved to their own satellite slots and the platform was discontinued.

Today the channel broadcasts in 1080p high definition via satellite and cable — a technical standard that places it among the most advanced local TV operations in Bavaria. The HD feed, combined with the livestream and on-demand clips, gives the Augsburg service a multi-platform presence that its 1994 RTL-window predecessor could not have imagined. As Augsburg marks its development as a growing university and technology city, augsburg.tv's cameras document a region in transition — from Roman heritage and Fugger history to contemporary industry and research. The channel's three decades on air make it one of the longest-serving local television services in Swabia, with a technical and editorial standard that reflects the strength of the Augsburg media market and its integrated press-radio-television ownership.

Award Recognition

In 2014 the station's leisure magazine "Lug ins Land" earned presenter Matthias Luginger the BLM Lokalfernsehpreis for best moderation in local television (Beste Moderation im Lokalfernsehen), awarded by the Bavarian media authority's independent jury. The fortnightly series presents excursion destinations and leisure activities across the Augsburg region and the Allgäu.