WDR Fernsehen

Logo of WDR Fernsehen

WDR Fernsehen is the regional television ("third programme") of Westdeutscher Rundfunk. The broadcasting area is North Rhine-Westphalia. The programme of WDR Fernsehen is a full programme that includes news as well as information and entertainment. In addition, WDR Fernsehen broadcasts eleven half-hour, regionally different programmes every day, the so-called local time.

Key Facts

Audience Share2.3%
Ownership TypePublic
Geographic CoverageLocal
Content TypeFree
Active Transparency
company/channel informs proactively and comprehensively about its ownership, data is constantly updated and easily verifiable

Ownership

Ownership StructureWDR Fernsehen is part of Westdeutscher Rundfunk. WDR has no owner in the literal sense. As part of the public broadcasting system, it is financed by the public through a licence fee.
Voting RightsThe management of WDR consists of the director general and six directors. According to the WDR Act, the director general is "responsible for programme planning and for the entire operation of the institution". WDR also has two central committees: The Administrative Board consists of nine members, seven of whom are elected by the Broadcasting Council. The remaining two members are delegated by the WDR Staff Council. The current chairperson is Claudia Schare. Each member has one vote. However, the two members delegated by the Staff Council are not entitled to vote on matters relating to the programme area. The WDR Broadcasting Council consists of 55 members, 13 of whom are members of the state parliament, delegated by the parliamentary groups in proportion to their size. 37 members are delegated by statutory interest groups such as trade unions, churches, family or social organisations. Other status groups can apply for the remaining five places, which are selected by the state parliament. The members may not belong to the federal or state government and may not be members of the federal or state parliaments or the European Parliament. The Board of Directors passes its resolutions by a simple majority of the votes cast. In the event of a tie, a resolution is deemed to have been rejected. The Broadcasting Board passes its resolutions by a simple majority of the members present. Resolutions are generally passed by open vote on a show of hands.
Individual Owner

Media Companies / Groups

Facts

Founding Year1965
Founder
  • WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk)
    WDR began broadcasting its so-called "Third Programme" on 1 December 1965. The station was initially called Westdeutsches Fernsehen (WDF). In 1988 it was renamed West 3, and since 1994 it has been known as WDR Fernsehen.
CEO
  • Tom Buhrow
    has been the director general of WDR since 2013. He completed a traineeship at WDR in 1985. He then worked for several ARD studios abroad, including in Brussels and Washington. He was Chairman of ARD from January 2020 to December 2021 and temporarily from August to December 2022. Buhrow has been Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bavaria Film GmbH since 2015 and is also a member of the supervisory boards of several public service subsidiaries. Buhrow will step down at the end of 2024. In June 2024, Dr Katrin Vernau was elected as his successor and will become the new Director General from January 2025.
Editor-In-Chief
  • Stephan Brandenburg
    Head of the News programme department. He is responsible for reporting in the WDR newsroom, including all formats under the WDR Aktuell brand as well as the WDR feeds for the ARD-Aktuell editorial team, which is responsible for ARD's news content.
  • Ellen Ehni
    Head of the Politics and Current Affairs programme area and also Editor-in-Chief. This area includes the programme groups ARD-Morgenmagazin, Documentaries, Germany, Sport and Current Affairs, Europe and Abroad.
  • Gabi Ludwig
    Head of Regional Programmes and also Editor-in-Chief. This programme area includes the programme groups Politics and Documentaries, Talk NRW and the eleven regional studios, which are responsible for the various local times.
Other Important People
  • Rolf Zurbrüggen
    Chairman of the WDR Broadcasting Council since December 2021, of which he has been a member since 2016. He was delegated as a member of the State Association of Adult Education Centres, of which he has been a member of the board since 2014. Other offices: Supervisory Board of WDR media group GmbH, Deputy Chairman of Förderverein Haus Nottbeck e. V., Oelde, Vice President - Deutsch-Französische Gesellschaft Warendorf e.V., Warendorf.
  • Claudia Schare
    Since December 2019, Schare has been the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors, of which she has been a full member since 2012. She is also a member of the Supervisory Board of WDR media group GmbH, a member of the University Council of TH Ostwestfalen-Lippe and, until June 2021, Deputy Chairwoman of the Dortmund-Schüren SPD local association.
ContactWestdeutscher Rundfunk Köln Anstalt des öffentlichen Rechts
Appellhofplatz 1
50667 Köln
Germany
0221/220 - 0
redaktion@wdr.de
RevenueMissing Data
Operating ProfitMissing Data
Advertising (in % of total funding)Missing Data
Market ShareMissing Data
Headlines
Meta DataThe share of the total audience in per cent for the TV channels comes from AGF Videoforschung in cooperation with GfK 2023, retrieved via Meedia.de and refers to the average annual share of the total audience
Financial data is shown as "missing data", as a breakdown of finances is only provided at broadcaster level. Individual data on broadcasters is not published.
Comment on the transparency level:
As it is not possible to categorise the transparency level for public service media in terms of ownership structures, the availability of information on the supervisory and control bodies as well as information on their members and transparency with regard to corporate shareholdings were included in the assessment.
Sources
Documents (PDF)