About Radio 91.2

Radio 91.2

Radio 91.2 is the private local radio station for the city of Dortmund in North Rhine-Westphalia, broadcasting on FM 91.2 MHz under the slogans "Mein Dortmund" ("My Dortmund") and "der beste Mix" ("the best mix"). Launched on 14 September 1991 as "DO 91,2" (pronounced "DO Einundneunzig zwo"), it is the local station for Germany's eighth-largest city and a member of the NRW local radio system: it produces daily local programme windows from its studio on Silberstraße in central Dortmund and fills the rest of its schedule with the statewide Radio NRW framework programme. Its format is adult contemporary — broadly appealing pop music combined with local news, traffic, service information and Dortmund topics. With Borussia Dortmund and the city's industrial heritage, culture and major events as recurring editorial themes, the station positions itself as the city's own radio voice.

Overview

Radio 91.2 serves the city of Dortmund, a city of around 590,000 inhabitants at the eastern edge of the Ruhr region. It broadcasts terrestrially on FM 91.2 MHz, via DAB+, by cable and as a web stream, covering Dortmund and its immediate surroundings. The programme type is local radio with an adult contemporary music format: mainstream pop hits and familiar titles aimed at a broad adult audience, woven together with local journalism.

On weekdays the station produces several hours of local programming each day, following the established NRW local radio pattern: a morning show that wakes the city with local news, traffic and service, and further local windows through the day, with local news bulletins, weather and traffic information for Dortmund. Evenings carry citizen radio ("Bürgerfunk"), including the long-running independent music magazine "Radio Tief im Westen", which plays rap, electro, reggae and dancehall and broadcasts every second Tuesday and third Friday of the month from 21:00 to 22:00. The remainder of the schedule — including the hourly national and international news — comes from the framework provider Radio NRW, for which the station transmits an hourly Radio NRW advertising block. The transition from analogue to digital added DAB+ carriage to the station's distribution, complementing FM 91.2 and ensuring the signal reaches listeners in the city centre, the suburbs and surrounding districts alike.

Dortmund has a special place in German local radio history: the first local radio station in North Rhine-Westphalia was Radio Dortmund, launched by the public broadcaster WDR in 1985 as part of the Dortmund cable pilot project; it ran for nine years before the WDR needed the frequency for a new WDR 2 regional window. Radio 91.2, as the city's private successor, has carried the local-radio torch in Dortmund since 1991.

History

Radio 91.2 went on air on 14 September 1991 as "DO 91,2", licensed by the Landesanstalt für Medien Nordrhein-Westfalen (LfM), the state media authority. It was among the wave of private local stations that launched in NRW in the early 1990s under the state's two-pillar model ("Zwei-Säulen-Modell"), which splits each local station between a commercial operating company ("Betriebsgesellschaft") — typically owned 75 percent by local newspaper publishers and 25 percent by the municipality — and an editorially responsible programme community ("Veranstaltergemeinschaft") drawn from local civic groups. This structure was designed to keep local radio both commercially viable and rooted in the community, and Radio 91.2 has operated within it for more than three decades.

Over the years the station evolved from its "DO 91,2" branding to the current "Radio 91.2" identity with its "Mein Dortmund" positioning, reflecting a deliberate emphasis on city identity. Like its sister stations across NRW, it adapted to the digital transition: DAB+ added a second terrestrial distribution path alongside FM 91.2, and the web stream made the station available to former Dortmund residents and fans worldwide. Throughout, the station's studio has remained in the city — currently on Silberstraße 21 in central Dortmund — and its editorial focus on Dortmund news, events and Borussia Dortmund has stayed constant. The citizen-radio magazine "Radio Tief im Westen", launched in 2004 by Martin Krämer (aka Commissioner Smart) with Jan Plotke (aka JanTenna) joining as presenter and producer in 2007, has become one of the station's longest-running Bürgerfunk institutions, hosting interviews with artists including Deichkind, Westbam, Ugly Duckling, Masta Ace, Dynamite Deluxe and Nosliw.

Programming

The music format is adult contemporary: a broad, melodic pop mix of current hits and established favourites, chosen for all-day listenability. The weekday local windows structure the listening day: the morning show leads with local news, traffic, weather and service topics for Dortmund, while later local segments keep listeners updated on city affairs, events, culture and sport through the afternoon.

Local news is the station's editorial backbone. The Dortmund newsroom reports on city politics, the local economy, major events such as the Christmas market and trade fairs, cultural life, and, inevitably, Borussia Dortmund — the football club whose fortunes move the city. Local news bulletins, traffic and weather run throughout the local windows, with the hourly national and international news supplied by Radio NRW. The station's journalists also produce longer local features and interviews with Dortmund personalities, politicians, business figures and cultural workers.

Citizen radio adds programming diversity under NRW media law. The flagship Bürgerfunk production, "Radio Tief im Westen", describes itself as an independent music magazine for Dortmund, focusing on rap, electro, reggae and dancehall, with interviews, music, culture, news and event tips; international, national and local artists are presented and interviewed. Broadcasting every second Tuesday and third Friday of the month from 21:00 to 22:00, it gives Dortmund's alternative music scene a regular broadcast home and has welcomed guests ranging from German hip-hop acts to international artists.

Organization and Ownership

Radio 91.2 operates under the NRW two-pillar model: a commercial operating company handles advertising, technology and business operations, while the editorially responsible Veranstaltergemeinschaft — a registered association of local civic, cultural and social groups — oversees the programme. As with all NRW local stations, the exact composition of the Veranstaltergemeinschaft is not published. Managing director is Markus Heuser, and programme director and editor-in-chief is Mathias Scherff.

The station is part of the NRW local radio family whose stations share the Radio NRW framework programme from Oberhausen. The economic arrangement — local advertising sold by the station itself, plus the statewide Radio NRW advertising combinations that bundle the local stations' reach — underpins the station's financing. Detailed current ownership figures for the operating company are not publicly confirmed in the sources consulted for this profile; the standard NRW ownership pattern involves local newspaper publishers and the municipality. Advertising is marketed locally and through the statewide combinations.

Digital Presence

The station's website, radio912.de, is its digital home: it offers the live stream, Dortmund news, the programme schedule, presenter profiles, photo galleries from local events, competitions and contact and advertising information. The live stream extends the FM and DAB+ signal worldwide, serving Dortmunders living elsewhere as well as Borussia Dortmund fans following the station's coverage.

Radio 91.2 is carried by the major radio aggregator platforms and apps, which list its FM and DAB+ details alongside the stream. On social media — Facebook and Instagram — the station publishes local news updates, programme highlights, event coverage and listener interaction, while a YouTube presence hosts video material. Podcasts and on-demand audio of local contributions and interviews allow time-shifted listening, completing the standard digital offering of a modern NRW local station.