About hr4

hr4

hr4 is the regional service-and-entertainment radio programme of Hessischer Rundfunk (hr), the public broadcaster of Hesse. Launched on 6 October 1986, it is aimed at listeners aged 50 and above, playing Schlager music, oldies, international evergreens, and melodic pop alongside strong regional information. Its slogans are "hr4 – Einfach gut drauf" ("Simply feeling good") and "Musik, die glücklich macht" ("Music that makes you happy"). According to the Media-Analyse cited by Wikipedia, it reached 620,000 listeners in the II/2026 survey wave.

Overview

hr4 is produced from the hr's studio in Kassel — since September 2004; previously, from its 1986 launch, it was produced at the Frankfurt broadcasting house. The move to Kassel made hr4 the hr's northern voice and underlined its regional mission: the programme combines music for an older audience with local news and service from across Hesse's regions. It broadcasts on FM, cable, satellite, DAB+, and webradio. Programme direction is shared by its management team; the hr intendant is Florian Hager. The programme is financed through broadcasting fees and radio advertising.

History

hr4's launch on 6 October 1986 was part of a deliberate regionalisation of the hr's radio: alongside the new fourth programme, the broadcaster expanded its regional studio network — in addition to the existing studios in Kassel and Wiesbaden, new studios were established in Bensheim, Fulda, and Wetzlar. The launch also gave the hr's radio family its uniform naming: hr1, hr2, hr3, and hr4.

The financing of hr4 had an unusual prehistory. From January 1985 to December 1992, "hessen 3" — the hr's television programme, the only "third programme" in Germany to do so — broadcast television advertising, with the revenues earmarked for financing the fourth radio programme. Annual proceeds of around 15 million Deutschmarks were initially achieved (later about 12 million DM). The 1987 interstate broadcasting treaty stipulated that advertising on Hessen 3 should end once licence-fee funding for hr4 was secured; in 1988 the Hessian broadcasting act was amended to permit hr television advertising only until the end of 1992.

Since September 2004, hr4 has been produced from Kassel in North Hesse rather than Frankfurt — a decentralisation that reinforced the programme's identity as the voice of the Hessian regions rather than the Frankfurt metropolis.

The station has celebrated its milestones publicly, including its 25th anniversary, for which it awarded the "hr4-Schlagerbiene" (hr4 Schlager Bee) — a listener-voted prize honouring the most popular Schlager hits of the station's history, from Juliane Werding's 1986 "Stimmen im Wind" through Matthias Reim, Howard Carpendale, and Wolfgang Petry to Helene Fischer's 2010 "Hundert Prozent".

The Television Advertising Experiment

hr4's financing history contains one of the strangest episodes in German broadcasting. When the hr planned its fourth radio programme in the early 1980s, the question was how to pay for it: the licence fee was already allocated, and the broadcaster needed new revenue. The solution was unprecedented — television advertising on the regional "third programme". From January 1985, "hessen 3" carried TV commercials, the only ARD third programme in Germany to do so, with the proceeds explicitly earmarked for the planned hr4.

The experiment worked financially: annual revenues of around 15 million Deutschmarks flowed in at first (later settling at about 12 million DM), providing the seed funding for the radio launch of October 1986. But it was always conceived as a bridge. The interstate broadcasting treaty of 1987 stipulated that advertising on Hessen 3 should end as soon as licence-fee funding for hr4 was available, and in 1988 the Hessian broadcasting act was amended to permit hr television advertising only until the end of 1992. When the deadline came, the commercials vanished from the television screen — and hr4, by then an established programme with a loyal audience, continued on licence-fee funding supplemented by radio advertising.

The episode is a footnote today, but it reveals how seriously the hr took regional radio in the 1980s: seriously enough to break a national taboo — advertising on a third TV programme — to finance it.

Regionalisation: The Studio Network

hr4's 1986 launch was the centrepiece of a regionalisation drive. The hr expanded its studio network specifically to feed the new programme: alongside the existing studios in Kassel and Wiesbaden, new studios opened in Bensheim (Bergstraße), Fulda (East Hesse), and Wetzlar (Central Hesse). Each studio became a newsroom for its region, supplying hr4 — and the hr's other programmes — with local reporting.

The September 2004 move of hr4's production from Frankfurt to Kassel completed this regional logic. Kassel, the capital of North Hesse, gave the programme a home outside the Frankfurt media metropolis and a perspective rooted in the state's northern half — the region of the Brothers Grimm, the documenta art exhibition, and a distinct North Hessian identity. For a programme whose selling point is regional closeness, producing from Kassel rather than Frankfurt was a statement: hr4 belongs to the regions, not to the broadcasting house.

The 50-Plus Audience

hr4's targeting of listeners aged 50 and above reflects a deliberate segmentation of the hr's radio family: YOU FM for the young, hr3 for the mainstream middle, hr1 for the 1980s generation, and hr4 for the older audience. The format — Schlager, oldies, international evergreens, melodic pop — serves listeners whose musical socialisation predates the rock and pop eras that define the other waves, while the strong regional information component acknowledges that older listeners are often the most locally rooted.

The "hr4-Schlagerbiene" anniversary award illustrates the programme's relationship with its audience: a listener-voted celebration of the Schlager canon, from the Neue Deutsche Welle-inflected hits of the 1980s through the Eurodance-tinged Schlager of the 1990s to the Helene Fischer-era revival. For hr4's listeners, these songs are not kitsch but biography — and the station treats them accordingly.

Programming

hr4's format is a service-and-entertainment wave: Schlager, oldies, international music, and evergreens, combined with regional news, service information, and entertainment. Aimed at the 50-plus audience, it offers the melodic, German-language-centred music mix that its listeners grew up with, framed by the regional journalism that distinguishes it from national Schlager formats.

The regional studios feed the programme with local reporting from across Hesse — from North Hesse's Kassel region to the Rhine-Main area, from East Hesse around Fulda to the Wetterau and the Bergstraße — making hr4 the most regionally rooted of the hr's music programmes.

Coverage and Audience

hr4 broadcasts across Hesse on FM, DAB+, cable, satellite, and webradio, reaching every corner of the state from its Kassel base. The Media-Analyse figure of 620,000 listeners (II/2026) makes it one of the hr's strongest programmes, reflecting the loyalty of its older audience and the programme's deep regional embedding.

Ownership and Funding

hr4 is operated by Hessischer Rundfunk, the public-law broadcaster for the state of Hesse and a member of the ARD, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main with the hr4 operation based in Kassel. It is financed through the broadcasting licence fee and radio advertising. The hr intendant is Florian Hager.

Digital Presence

hr4's online presence is integrated into the hr's digital platforms, with livestream and programme information; the station is listed under hr4.de in programme directories. Podcasts and on-demand features extend the regional magazines beyond the broadcast schedule. Because the official domain has not been independently load-verified, the website field of this profile is left empty pending verification.