About sunshine live

sunshine live

sunshine live is a private German radio station devoted entirely to electronic dance music, broadcasting nationwide from studios in Mannheim and Berlin. On air since 1997, it has become the central platform for techno, house, trance and Eurodance culture in German radio, combining a daytime music programme with DJ live sets, an extensive family of genre channels, podcasts and some of the country's best-known electronic music events. The station is operated by sunshine live GmbH & Co. KG and financed primarily through radio advertising.

Overview

Stylised in lowercase, sunshine live describes its format as Eurodance- and techno-oriented music radio. Its daytime schedule is a companion programme built on electronic music — current releases as well as DJ live sets — assembled from a rotating set of daily formats rather than a single rigid clock. The audience spans all age groups united by a passion for electronic music. Petra Lemcke serves as managing director, with Maik Müller as programme director. The station's slogan is "electronic music radio". Distribution is via DAB+ digital radio, cable networks, satellite and internet livestream, with reception across Germany, neighbouring regions and, since 2023, the greater Zurich area of Switzerland.

History

The station's roots go back to 1 October 1994, when a schlager-and-oldies programme called RNO Radio — later RNO Radio Sunshine and Radio Sunshine — began broadcasting from Schwetzingen at the start of Baden-Württemberg's second private-radio licensing period. The operating company still carries the old name, RNO Rhein-Neckar-Odenwald Radio GmbH & Co. KG. Because the oldies format drew little response and the region lacked a youth station, the "Sunshine" name was retained while the programme was reinvented: on 20 June 1997 sunshine live launched as a youth station in CHR format, gradually shifting its musical emphasis toward techno.

A turning point came in November 1999, when a consortium around Mannheim's Radio Regenbogen — with RNO Radio as a shareholder — won the tender for a statewide youth station in Baden-Württemberg, and sunshine live was placed on the newly won frequencies to fill the licence with a 24-hour programme. A shareholder dispute over musical direction followed: sunshine live resisted a shift toward more black music and less dance, which led to the founding of the separate station bigFM. For a time in early 2000 sunshine live broadcast only on FM in the Rhine-Neckar triangle while its satellite feed served the new bigFM; since mid-April 2000 it has been continuously available via Astra again.

In 2004 the Schimper publishing house's shares were taken over by the Eurocast radio group, and the programme became more tightly formatted. A brief experiment with call-in competitions, produced by the same company behind the call-in TV channel 9Live, was abandoned after audience research showed no effect and loyal listeners protested; only a TV-style speed-quiz call-in segment survived for a while. In 2010 the station refreshed its jingles and slogan, and in 2011 it joined the first national DAB+ multiplex on channel 5C, securing nationwide digital distribution.

The station's geography changed in December 2016, when most programming moved to a new studio in the rooftop of the "Das Schloss" shopping centre in Berlin, while Mannheim was retained as an external studio in the Musikpark. Daytime programming until 4 p.m. originates in Berlin; live DJ shows come from both cities. In January 2022 the station introduced a new logo as part of a rebranding. Since the start of 2023 sunshine live has officially broadcast in Switzerland via DAB+ in the Zurich area, with its own Swiss app and a monthly live show, "Swiss Selection", transmitted from Zurich and hosted by DJ Rosanna Grüter. In late 2024 a moderated 1990s channel launched, presented by Swiss radio host Finn Rasmussen.

Programming

The main programme blends current electronic releases with live DJ sets across the day. Named moderated formats include "BPM – Beats per Morning", afternoon and after-work shows, classics hours, a community show, motorsport-adjacent and 1990s-nostalgia formats, and studio sessions. Alongside the flagship feed, sunshine live operates 23 specialised channels categorised by genre — techno, house, hardstyle, drum and bass and the 1990s among them — plus its own podcasts. Live sets from the Mannheim and Berlin studios are also streamed on the station's Twitch account, and the monthly "Swiss Selection" goes out live from Zurich. Listener loyalty is cultivated through service information, interaction formats, raffles and competitions, with community communication extending to Instagram and Facebook.

Coverage & Audience

sunshine live has been receivable nationwide on DAB+ (channel 5C) since 2011, through the cable networks of Vodafone Kabel Deutschland, Europe-wide via SES Astra satellite and worldwide by internet livestream. Since 2023 it has also been on DAB+ in Switzerland. FM distribution, once comprising eight frequencies, has been wound down in favour of digital paths; by early 2026 the last remaining FM outlet was the Stuttgart-Münster transmitter on 104.9 MHz. Earlier FM chapters included a frequency in Templin, Brandenburg, assigned in 2010 and returned in 2012, and a Rostock frequency on 92.4 MHz launched in December 2015. Since 2015 the programme has even been carried by the Satelio pay platform in southern Africa, where it is received by German-speaking listeners in Namibia.

Ownership

The station is owned by sunshine live GmbH & Co. KG, the successor of the RNO Rhein-Neckar-Odenwald operating company. Its shareholder history reflects the consolidation of German private radio: the 2004 entry of the Eurocast group — itself backed by stations including Radio PSR, Hit Radio FFH, Radio SAW and 94.3 rs2 within the Regiocast sphere — tied sunshine live into one of the country's larger radio networks while preserving its specialist electronic-music identity.

Digital Presence

Digital platforms are central to sunshine live's identity. Beyond the main livestream, the station's app and website host the 23 genre channels, podcasts and catch-up content, and the Twitch channel carries live studio sets. The station releases a long-running techno compilation series — running since 2001 and numbering 71 editions as of early 2024 — and sells its own merchandising through a webshop. Its event business is a major brand pillar: each November the "sunshine live Die 90er – Live on Stage" show fills the Maimarkthalle in Mannheim with Eurodance acts (the 2025 edition drew 10,000 guests for 21 acts across two floors), while the "Retroactive" party night each March celebrates the music of the 1990s and 2000s in the Maimarktclub. The station's awards include a Dance Music Award in 2001 and the German Radio Prize for best sound design in 2010. sunshine-live.de is the hub for streams, channels, event tickets and the shop.

Die 90er – Live on Stage

sunshine live's signature event is "Die 90er – Live on Stage", held annually in Mannheim's Maimarkthalle: initiator Christoph Werner's plan to bring all the 90s stars onto one stage succeeded in 2013 in the Maimarktclub, moved to the big Maimarkthalle the following year with over 10,000 visitors sold out — and set off the 90s-party boom in Germany. The 5th anniversary show in 2017 drew 11,000 visitors with 20 artists on two stages — Germany's biggest 90s party, with Eurodance acts like 2 Unlimited (nearly) in original line-up. "Die 2000er – Live on Stage" followed in September 2016 with around 3,000 visitors; the 15th birthday in 2012 and "Radionation" 2013 (with I-Motion, starring Paul van Dyk) were earlier milestones. What began in 1997 as a station for electronic music has become an entertainment brand with its own events, livestreams, merchandise and a growing presence in Switzerland.

From Schwetzingen to Berlin

Under its current name the station went on air on 20 June 1997 in Schwetzingen; the headquarters is in Mannheim. The owner is the sunshine live GmbH & Co. KG (operated by RNO Rhein-Neckar-Odenwald-Radio); managing director Petra Lemcke, programme director Maik Müller. Since 13 December 2016 most of the programme has been broadcast from a studio in the attic of the Das Schloss shopping centre in Berlin; the old Mannheim studio in the Kauffmannmühle (Jungbusch, since 30 January 2006) was closed and moved to a smaller studio in the Musikpark Mannheim, from which some shows still run. The programme is financed primarily by radio advertising. The station is received via DAB+, cable, satellite and livestream across Germany and neighbouring areas plus Switzerland — Germany's electronic-music station, on air for nearly three decades.