About Radio Berg

Radio Berg

Radio Berg is the private local radio station for the Oberbergischer Kreis and the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis in North Rhine-Westphalia, broadcasting from Bergisch Gladbach. On air since 7 October 1995, it serves the Bergisches Land — the hilly region east of Cologne — with a daily local programme of about eight hours, built around the morning show "Am Morgen" (6:00–10:00), the afternoon programme "Am Nachmittag" (14:00–18:00) and half-hourly local news with weather and traffic. Like its sister stations across NRW, it combines its own local windows with the statewide Radio NRW framework programme, and carries legally mandated citizen radio ("Bürgerfunk") in the evenings. Its ownership reflects the region's media landscape: the Cologne publishing house DuMont holds the majority, alongside the two districts, several municipalities and regional publishers. Editor-in-chief since February 2023 is Alex Pesch.

Overview

Radio Berg's broadcast area covers two districts: the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis (including Bergisch Gladbach, the station's home city) and the Oberbergischer Kreis to the east — together a region of small and mid-sized towns, commuter belts around Cologne, and rural uplands. It broadcasts terrestrially on FM, via DAB+, by cable and as an online stream, reaching listeners across the Bergisches Land and beyond. The format is mainstream pop local radio: broadly appealing music combined with local journalism, service information and regional topics. The coverage area is geographically diverse: the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis includes Bergisch Gladbach, Burscheid, Kürten, Leichlingen, Odenthal, Overath, Rösrath and Wermelskirchen, while the Oberbergischer Kreis stretches eastward over Gummersbach, Wiehl, Waldbröl, Engelskirchen, Lindlar, Marienheide, Nümbrecht, Reichshof, Radevormwald, Hückeswagen, Wipperfürth and Morsbach — a mix of commuter towns on Cologne's doorstep and rural upland communities toward the Sauerland. The station's newsroom must serve both worlds: the suburban districts whose residents commute daily into Cologne, and the more rural eastern areas with their own distinct local concerns.

The weekday schedule follows the classic NRW local radio clock. Each day the station produces around eight hours of local programming: the morning show "Am Morgen" runs Monday to Friday from 6:00 to 10:00, waking the region with local news, traffic, weather and entertainment; "Am Nachmittag" has aired from 14:00 to 18:00 since 30 July 2018, when it moved two hours earlier to cover the afternoon drive. Every half hour, Radio Berg airs its own local news with weather and traffic for the broadcast area. On weekends, "Am Wochenende" (9:00–12:00) provides the local Saturday and Sunday magazine. Citizen radio adds a further layer: Bürgerfunk productions air Monday to Saturday from 20:00 to 21:00 and on Sundays from 19:00 to 20:00. The rest of the programme, including the hourly national and international news, comes from the framework provider Radio NRW.

History

Radio Berg went on air on 7 October 1995, licensed by the Landesanstalt für Medien Nordrhein-Westfalen (LfM), as part of the second wave of NRW local radio launches in the mid-1990s. Its founding team included Barbara Erbe, Guido Jahn and Ralf Arenz, who built the station's local editorial operation in Bergisch Gladbach. The launch filled a gap in the Bergisches Land, giving the region between Cologne, Wuppertal and the Sauerland its own dedicated local station within the NRW two-pillar system: a commercial operating company handling business and technology, and an editorially responsible programme community ("Veranstaltergemeinschaft") drawn from local civic groups.

Over nearly three decades, the station has kept its Bergisch Gladbach base while adapting to the structural changes in local radio: the afternoon programme's 2018 move to an earlier slot, the addition of DAB+ distribution alongside FM, and the growth of streaming. In February 2023, Alex Pesch — herself one of the station's presenters — took over as editor-in-chief, continuing a tradition of promoting from within the local team. The station's presenter roster has included well-known regional voices such as Volker Sailer, Nicole Schmitz, Katja Effey, Julia Drexler and Sascha Kefferpütz, with former presenters including Wolfgang Roth, David Fernandez, Brigitte Mackscheidt, Sandra Samper, Sascha Wandhöfer, Michi Arlt, Basti Wirtz and Markus Hendrich.

Programming

The music format is mainstream pop — current hits and familiar titles selected for broad, all-day appeal across the region's adult population. The morning show "Am Morgen" is the station's flagship: from 6:00 to 10:00 on weekdays, it mixes wake-up entertainment with the day's local news, detailed traffic information for the Bergisches Land's commuter routes toward Cologne, and weather for the upland districts. "Am Nachmittag" (14:00–18:00) accompanies listeners through the afternoon with a similar blend of music, regional topics and service.

Local news is the heart of the station's identity. The half-hourly bulletins cover district politics in both the Rheinisch-Bergischer and Oberbergischer Kreise, local business, culture, sport and community events — from Bergisch Gladbach's city affairs to the smaller towns of the Oberbergischer Kreis. Traffic and weather are tailored to the region's geography, where upland roads and commuter corridors create specific service needs. The weekend magazine "Am Wochenende" (9:00–12:00) rounds up the week's regional news and previews weekend events, while the Bürgerfunk hours give associations, schools and community groups their own airtime under NRW media law. Outside the local windows, the Radio NRW framework supplies music, national and world news and syndicated programming, with the station's own jingles preserving the "Radio Berg" identity throughout.

Organization and Ownership

Radio Berg operates under the NRW two-pillar model. According to a 2020 North Rhine-Westphalia parliamentary document, the ownership of the broadcaster is: the Cologne media house DuMont (publisher of Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, Kölnische Rundschau and Express) with 60 percent; the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis with 12.5 percent; the Oberbergischer Kreis with 6 percent; five further towns and municipalities with 6.5 percent combined; and 15 percent shared among the Rheinisch-Bergische Verlagsgesellschaft, the B. Boll Verlag, the Westdeutsche Zeitung GmbH, the Remscheider Medienhaus and the Rheinische Post Verlagsgesellschaft. The composition of the editorially responsible Veranstaltergemeinschaft is not published; only its chair and deputies are named on the station's website. Editor-in-chief is Alex Pesch (since February 2023).

The station's advertising is sold locally and through the statewide Radio NRW combinations that bundle the NRW local stations' reach for national campaigns. The mixed publisher-municipal ownership — with DuMont as the dominant shareholder — ties the station closely to the region's newspaper landscape, a typical pattern for NRW local radio designed to align the interests of local publishers with the new broadcast medium. DuMont's 60-percent stake makes Radio Berg one of the NRW local stations most firmly anchored to a major regional publishing house, reflecting the company's long-standing presence in the Bergisches Land through its Cologne newspapers. The station's Funkhaus in Bergisch Gladbach houses the studios, newsroom and offices from which the eight daily hours of local programming are produced.

Digital Presence

The station's website, radioberg.de, is its digital hub: it offers the live stream, news from the Oberbergischer and Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreise, the programme schedule, presenter profiles, event tips, photo galleries and competitions, as well as contact and advertising information. The stream extends the FM and DAB+ signal worldwide, serving former residents of the Bergisches Land and commuters alike.

Radio Berg is carried by the major radio aggregator platforms and apps with its frequency and stream details. On social media — Facebook and Instagram — the station publishes local news updates, programme highlights, traffic alerts and event coverage, maintaining daily contact with its audience in the two districts. 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.