About harmony.fm

harmony.fm

harmony.fm (now styled 80er-Radio Harmony) is the youngest programme of Hesse's FFH Mediengruppe — a private radio station in Hesse based in Bad Vilbel, launched on 1 September 2003. Conceived as a "pure music station for 35–59-year-olds", it has played exclusively 1980s titles since a 2020 relaunch, under the claim "Wir lieben die 80er!" ("We love the 80s!"). The owner is the Radio/Tele FFH GmbH & Co. Betriebs-KG; managing director Marco Maier, programme director Marko Eichmann.

Overview

80er-Radio harmony is the newest station of the Radio/Tele FFH GmbH & Co. Betriebs-KG, alongside Hit Radio FFH and the youth wave planet radio. It is received terrestrially on FM and DAB+ in Hesse and — since 2023 — also in NRW via DAB+, plus internet radio, the smartphone app and Hessian cable networks. Online the station runs, alongside its livestream, a schlager radio and the "+ programmes" — an individualised offering where listeners decide whether hits from other decades or genres are also played.

History

The programme launched on 1 September 2003 under the name harmony.fm as the third programme of the FFH group. It was designed to be perceived as a pure music station for 35–59-year-olds. A 2020 relaunch focused the programme exclusively on 1980s music with the claim "Wir lieben die 80er!".

Programming

The programme plays exclusively 1980s music since the 2020 relaunch, with the "+ programmes" allowing listeners to add hits from other decades or genres. Online extras include a schlager radio.

Coverage & Audience

80er-Radio harmony broadcasts on FM and DAB+ in Hesse and — since 2023 — in North Rhine-Westphalia on DAB+, plus internet radio, smartphone app and Hessian cable networks.

Ownership

The owner is the Radio/Tele FFH GmbH & Co. Betriebs-KG, based in Bad Vilbel, managed by Marco Maier — Germany's second-largest private broadcasting group.

Digital Presence

The station operates harmonyfm.de with a livestream, a schlager web radio and the personalisable "+ programmes" alongside apps and social media channels, extending its 80s programme beyond the terrestrial footprint. The digital offering carries the station's 80s music and customisable decades on demand.

The FFH Mediengruppe's Third Programme

harmony.fm — today 80er-Radio Harmony — is the youngest of the three programmes produced by the Radio/Tele FFH GmbH & Co. Betriebs-KG, Germany's second-largest private broadcasting group, based in Bad Vilbel near Frankfurt. Its older siblings are Hit Radio FFH, on air since 15 November 1989 and by listener numbers Germany's second-largest private station after Antenne Bayern, and the youth wave planet radio, launched 21 April 1997. All three transmit from the group's transmission centre in Bad Vilbel, which the company moved into in 2001 after starting out in a former Tipp-Ex factory in Frankfurt-Rödelheim. The group is managed by Marco Maier (since 2019, succeeding long-time programme director and managing director Hans-Dieter Hillmoth), with Marko Eichmann as programme director across the music stations. The group's programmes are distributed via 56 FM frequencies in the broadcast area, and the company also co-founded the Radioplayer.de platform.

The 2020 Relaunch: All 80s, All the Time

When harmony.fm launched on 1 September 2003, it was conceived as a pure music station for 35-to-59-year-olds, playing mainly 1970s and 1980s titles with some 1960s and 1990s mixed in. A 2020 relaunch sharpened the profile decisively: since then 80er-Radio Harmony plays exclusively 1980s music, under the claim "Wir lieben die 80er!" ("We love the 80s!"). The station thus occupies a clear niche in the Hessian market — a decade-specific specialist programme alongside the broad AC of Hit Radio FFH and the youth CHR of planet radio. The relaunch completed the group's segmentation of the Hessian audience by generation and taste: FFH for the broad adult mainstream, planet radio for the young, harmony for the 80s generation.

The Plus Programmes and Online Extras

Online, 80er-Radio Harmony goes beyond its FM decade format. Alongside the livestream it operates a schlager web radio and the so-called "+ programmes" — an individualised offering in which listeners themselves decide whether hits from other decades or other genres, which do not appear in the regular 80er-Radio Harmony programme, should also be played. The station is received terrestrially on FM and DAB+ in Hesse and — since 2023 — also on DAB+ in North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as via internet radio, the smartphone app and the Hessian cable networks. The digital extras make the station one of the FFH group's most interactive music brands, letting the 80s audience customise the programme around the decade they love.

Hesse's 80s Station

80er-Radio Harmony — formerly harmony.fm — is the private 80s station of Hesse, based in Bad Vilbel. The programme went on air on 1 September 2003; the managing director is Marco Maier, the programme chief Marko Eichmann. It is the youngest station of the FFH media group, whose Radio/Tele FFH GmbH & Co. Betriebs-KG also operates Hit Radio FFH and the youth wave planet radio. The group itself was founded on 15 March 1988, has its headquarters in Bad Vilbel with 150 employees and is Germany's second-largest private broadcasting group: Hit Radio FFH has broadcast since 15 November 1989 (first from Frankfurt am Main, since 2001 from the Funkhaus in Bad Vilbel) and was the market leader in Hesse ahead of hr3 from the first media analysis; planet radio followed on 21 April 1997 for young listeners.

"Wir lieben die 80er"

Since a 2020 relaunch, 80er-Radio Harmony has played exclusively music titles from the 1980s — under the claim "Wir lieben die 80er" ("We love the 80s"). It was conceived as a "pure music niche station for the 35- to 59-year-olds". The station can be received terrestrially via FM and DAB+ in Hesse and — since 2023 — also via DAB+ in North Rhine-Westphalia, as internet radio, via the smartphone app and in the Hessian cable TV networks. Online the station runs, alongside its livestream, a schlager radio and further offers such as the "+ Programme": an individualised service where listeners decide whether hits from other decades or genres not normally in the programme should be played.

From City Transmitters to DAB+

Harmony's history is one of gradual reach-building. For years it was only receivable via weak city transmitters with a radius of about 15 kilometres around each location — "beifahrertauglich" (fit for the passenger seat) only near the transmitter city — before the switch-on in the NRW private multiplex and earlier on ADR (Astra Digital Radio, since discontinued) made it audible nationwide. The early programme was not yet fixed on the 80s but offered a colourful mix of the decades from about 1960 — at a time when few oldies offerings existed on German radio, a welcome alternative alongside RTL's oldies station, long before Oldie Antenne or Schwarzwaldradio were invented. The 2020 sharpening to a pure-80s format gave the station its clearest identity yet: one decade, done thoroughly, from the FFH Funkhaus at FFH-Platz 1 in Bad Vilbel.

Within the FFH family, Harmony completes the portfolio by age: Hit Radio FFH for the broad adult audience, planet radio for the young, and 80er-Radio Harmony for the 35- to 59-year-olds who grew up with the decade — the generation whose musical memory the station now curates full-time, from synth-pop to stadium rock, around the clock.

A station built on one decade — and on the listeners who never left it.