Youth station DJs fired - ‘too old’

Public broadcasting jobs in Germany are not jobs for life any more. Too old and you’re out at youth channel Radio Fritz.

Negotiations with several DJs, apparently, have been on-going for months. Some agreed to go quietly and some did not. Those who did not agree to voluntary career changes will be shown the door by the end of the year. The newspaper Tagesspiegel quoted an internal memo from program director Stefan Warbeck and music director EC Zander saying, essentially, “…after careful consideration, we decided…”

Two weeks ago Radio Fritz launched a promotional campaign using its mobile studio cruising the Berlin/Brandenburg streets “looking for radio talent.” A year ago the station made changes in its marketing program. In the most recent Media-Analyse radio audience survey released in mid-July Radio Fritz scored a 28% audience increase over the previous period.

The Berlin/Brandenburg radio market shifted considerably according to the new MA. Perennial market leader rs2 was clobbered, losing 33% of its audience and tumbling from number 3 to number 7. Antenna Brandenburg and BB Radio remained fist and second, respectively. Radio Fritz is a channel of public broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) and is aimed at teenagers. RBB has seven radio channels serving the Berlin/Brandenburg States.

An RBB spokesperson said the changes were necessary to keep Radio Fritz youthful. Several of the terminated DJs have been with the channel since it was launched in 1993. - Michael Hedges August 8, 2007

Keywords:Media Analyse, German public broadcasting

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