About Radio Paloma

Radio Paloma

Radio Paloma is a Berlin-based private radio station devoted to German schlager music, on air since 1 September 2008. Broadcasting via DAB+ in Berlin, Hamburg and North Rhine-Westphalia as well as through cable, satellite and internet, the station plays "100% deutschen Schlager" around the clock — from timeless classics to current releases. Operated by Silvacast GmbH from studios in Berlin-Charlottenburg, it has established itself as one of Germany's most-listened-to schlager stations, reaching more than half a million listeners per day according to the 2018 media analysis.

Overview

Radio Paloma's format is a schlager companion programme: a moderated daytime schedule built entirely on German-language schlager, aimed at listeners who want melodic, singable, feel-good music without genre detours. The station is privately owned and advertising-financed, operated by the Berlin company Silvacast GmbH with Thomas Ulrich as managing director. Its studios are located on Grolmanstraße in Berlin-Charlottenburg. The 2018 "ma audio II" media analysis credited the station with 114,000 listeners in the average weekday hour and a daily reach exceeding 500,000 people nationwide — strong figures for a single-genre station.

History

Radio Paloma began broadcasting on 1 September 2008, entering a market where schlager had a large but underserved audience. A 2009 press release cited the 2008 Verbraucheranalyse consumer survey — which found that 44 percent of Germans most liked listening to schlager, second only to oldies at 49 percent — to argue that the genre deserved a dedicated national station. The station positioned itself from the start as "Deutschlands einziger Schlagersender" playing 100 percent German schlager around the clock, and claimed reach into more than 30 million households via cable and satellite networks, making it the strongest brand for German schlager music in Germany's cable and satellite landscape.

Signature campaigns built the brand's profile. The "Radio Paloma Schlagermarathon" — for example over Easter, when the station played the 1,000 most-requested hits in more than 70 continuous hours — was presented as the longest schlager hit parade in German cable radio. On 1 November 2017 the station expanded its digital offering with five genre web channels: Volksmusik, Kultschlager, Kuschelschlager, Partyschlager and current schlager under the "Fresh" label, allowing listeners to specialise within the genre.

Programming

The main programme is a moderated schlager schedule running 24 hours a day. The music spans the genre's full range: evergreen classics, cult hits, romantic "Kuschelschlager", party schlager and current releases, presented by a team of moderators including Stefan Loll (known as Defjay), Nora Oschatz, Claudia Landgraf, Katharina Reddemann, Harald Selke and Adrian Marton. Former presenters have included well-known German media personalities such as Annemarie Eilfeld, Bert Beel, Dagmar Frederic, Ekki Göpelt, Iris Paech, Michael Niekammer, Peter Christ and Wolf-Dieter Herrmann — a roster that reflects the station's appeal to established broadcasters.

The five web channels launched in 2017 segment the audience by taste: traditional Volksmusik, cult classics, cuddly romantic schlager, party hits and the freshest current releases. This architecture lets the station serve both the traditional schlager audience and younger listeners discovering the genre through party and pop-schlager styles.

Coverage & Audience

Radio Paloma is broadcast via DAB+ in the Berlin (channel 12D), Hamburg (channel 10D) and North Rhine-Westphalia (channel 9D) multiplexes, and is carried in numerous German cable networks — including those of Unitymedia, Kabel BW and Vodafone Kabel Deutschland — on the former frequencies of the Defjay and Radio Melodie stations. The programme is also available digitally via DVB-C in Kabel Deutschland's digital free package, via Astra satellite, through Deutsche Telekom's Entertain package, in NetCologne's digital cable network and in Austria via the Salzburg AG cable network. A worldwide livestream completes the distribution. The ma 2018 audio II figures — 114,000 listeners in the average weekday hour and over half a million daily listeners — document the station's national resonance.

Ownership

The station is operated by Silvacast GmbH, a Berlin-based radio company, with Thomas Ulrich as managing director. The studios on Grolmanstraße in Berlin-Charlottenburg house the station's production. As an independent schlager specialist, Radio Paloma competes with the schlager offerings of larger groups — such as Schlager Radio (radio B2), Radio Schlagerparadies and the Absolut family's Absolut Bella — while maintaining a distinct Berlin identity and a presenter line-up drawn from across German broadcasting.

Digital Presence

Radio Paloma's digital offering centres on radiopaloma.de, which carries the live programme alongside the five genre web channels launched in 2017. The website provides programme information, presenter profiles, hit parades and interaction formats such as the listener-voted Schlagermarathon. The station's app extends listening to mobile devices, and social media channels serve the schlager community with artist news, event information and competitions. From its launch as a cable-and-satellite schlager brand to today's multi-platform presence spanning DAB+, streaming and themed web channels, Radio Paloma has built its identity on being available wherever schlager fans listen.

Berlin's "100% Deutscher Schlager" Station

Radio Paloma is the private schlager station of the Berliner Silvacast GmbH, on air since 1 September 2008 — 24 hours a day, exclusively German schlager and volkstümliche Musik. The name is a programme in itself: PALOMA stands for "PAradies! LOcker! MAcht!" ("Paradise! Relaxed! Makes!"). The music format is "100% Deutscher Schlager", aimed at listeners aged 35 and up; according to ma 2026 Audio II the format reaches around 1.4 million listeners daily. The playlist concentrates consistently on German-language schlager — from well-known classics to new titles by Helene Fischer or Roland Kaiser; there are no English pop songs or other genres. The studios are on Grolmanstraße in Berlin-Charlottenburg; the managing director is Thomas Ulrich.

Programme: Mornings, Party Mix and Pure Music

In the mornings Stefan Loll and Nora Oschatz accompany the listeners in "Die Muntermacher" ("The Wakers"), integrating the audience via voice messages. The working day passes faster with the best schlager and "100% Wissen zum Weitersagen" ("knowledge to pass on"); at the weekend evening a compiled party mix runs. With this focus the station clearly distinguishes itself from public offerings such as BR Schlager: Radio Paloma deliberately dispenses with regional reporting and instead plays music continuously — a plus for schlager fans who don't want long speech contributions or local news. The presenting team includes Stefan Loll, Nora Oschatz, Claudia Landgraf, Katharina Reddemann, Harald Selke and Adrian Marton; former presenters include Annemarie Eilfeld, Bert Beel, Dagmar Frederic, Ekki Göpelt, Iris Paech, Michael Niekammer, Peter Christ and Wolf-Dieter Herrmann.

Reception and Web Channels

The programme is receivable nationwide via cable and IPTV as well as regionally via DAB+ — among others in Berlin (channel 12D), Hamburg (10D) and North Rhine-Westphalia (9D) — plus digitally via satellite (Astra) and worldwide by livestream. Since 1 November 2017 Radio Paloma has offered five web radio channels alongside the live programme: Volksmusik, Kultschlager, Kuschelschlager, Partyschlager and current schlager under the name "Fresh". The station's website is schlager.radio. In a crowded German schlager market — with public competitors like BR Schlager and MDR Schlagerwelt and private rivals such as Radio Schlagerparadies — Radio Paloma has held its position since 2008 as the Berlin-based, music-only alternative: tag für Tag, Stunde um Stunde, nur 100% deutscher Schlager.

That music-only proposition is the station's commercial logic: in a genre whose audience spans generations, Radio Paloma offers the schlager day without interruption — no regional news windows, no talk-heavy mornings, just the format. Since September 2008, from Charlottenburg to the whole country via cable, satellite and DAB+.