Young People Need A Media Tradition

Michael Hedges November 17, 2014 Follow on Twitter

With their own music and styles young people have long had media’s complete and absolute attention. Advertisers have loved “youth culture” since the 1960’s when it became a marketing target, separate and distinct from the adult world and ready to spend to prove it. Best equipped to reach out to this new audience, for a variety of reasons, have been the radio broadcasters.

Electricity was certainly felt in the autumn of 1989 across divided Germany, particularly Berlin. When East German (DDR) officials closed the border with Czechoslovakia in early October a young Dutch singer, Herman van Ween, appearing on radio channel DT64, said, “The (Berlin) wall destroys my singing.” A month later, November 8th, the DT64 staff lodged an official protest when managers cancelled a program. On November 10th travel restrictions between East and West effectively ended as the Berlin Wall, literally and figuratively, came down.

DT64 (DeutschlandTreffen der Jugend 1964) was the radio channel of DDR State broadcaster Berliner Rundfunk for young people. It came about when the State Committee for Broadcasting decided in 1964 to produce a children’s program, a teenager’s program and a pre-school educational program on Radio DDR. Gradually the DT64 program grew from a few hours a week to a radio channel broadcast across the DDR on FM and AM/MW.

Offering music from rock and electro to international hits under the ever-present slogan “Power from the East” DT64 became a voice for young East Germans and not a few listeners beyond. Two days after the fall of the Berlin Wall DT64’s morning show was broadcast from West Berlin and days later a joint broadcast with West Berlin State broadcaster Sender Freies Berlin (SFB) was produced. For the next two years the station continued its edgy program.

The winds of change were obvious to all. Reunification of East and West Germany meant, eventually, that DDR broadcasting would be absorbed by newly created regional State broadcasters in Germany. DT64’s FM distribution in Berlin was appropriated by RIAS (Radio in the American Sector) for a day in 1990, popular protests encouraging a reversal of decision. Regional State broadcaster Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR) didn’t want DT64. Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg (ORB) wanted their own channel for young people, Rockradio B. The fate of DT64 was left to Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk (MDR), which appropriated its FM frequencies in June 1992 leaving a single AM/MW frequency. DT64 ceased to exist, except in legend, when MDR launched its youth channel MDR Sputnik, named for its satellite service, in May 1993. For a few years MDR Sputnik continued DT64’s rock music tradition then slipped into an R&B music flavor by the end of the 1990’s and on to the present contemporary hit music format

The RIAS radio channel for young people, RIAS 2, took form in 1985 as a top 40 station. In 1992 it was privatized, becoming pop music station rs2 in Berlin-Brandenburg. The Bavarian AM/MW frequency was eventually taken by national public radio channel Deutschlandradio Kultur, as was the old RIAS Berlin building.

Several public radio channels target young people in Germany, each produced by regional public broadcasters. Prior to reunification there were few. SFB introduced a station targeting young people in 1990, eventually named Radio 4U. ORB’s Rockradio B, which used DT64’s Potsdam FM frequencies, lasted but a few months before a joint project with SFB, Radio Fritz, appeared in March 1993, which absorbed Radio 4U. ORB and SFB eventually merged into Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) in 2003.

NDR’s hit music N-joy started in 1994 along with WDR’s Eins Live (1Live). Radio Vier from Radio Bremen arrived in 1996. Electro-alternative DasDing from Südwestrundfunk (SWR) followed in 1997. Hessicher Rundfunk (hr) launched dance music channel XXL in 1998, rebranded You FM in 2003.

Bayerischen Rundfunks (BR) has, so far, no dedicated FM channel targeting young people. BR Puls was introduced in 2013 on digital platforms. A proposal to move BR Puls to FM frequencies used by arts channel BR Klassic has German private sector broadcasters incensed.

State broadcasters in Europe only reluctantly embraced the bounty of youthful post-war populations with dedicated radio channels in the 1960’s. Sveriges Radio (Sweden) opened national channel P3 for young people in 1964. Dutch public broadcaster NPO followed a year later with Hilversum 3, now branded Radio 3, in response to popular offshore pirate station Radio Veronica. BBC Radio 1 began broadcasting pop music in 1967, largely to counter other pirate stations – Radio Caroline and Radio Luxembourg.

Irish public broadcaster RTE’s youth channel 2FM launched in 1979. Studio Brussels, part of Flemish Belgian public broadcasting, started as an hour a day hard rock program in 1983 and grew into a fulltime alternative music channel. Radio France opened rock music channel Radio 7 in 1980 in response to newly privatized FM channels then closed it in 1988. A decade later the eclectic youth-oriented Le Mouv’ launched with limited coverage. Spain’s RNE Radio 3, focused on alternative music, has been on the air since 1979. Swiss public broadcaster SSR-SRG introduced youth-oriented radio channels in each of the three language regions in the 1980’s.

Norway’s NRK didn’t launch a youth-oriented radio channel, P3, until 1993, followed by a station strictly for teens, mP3, in 2000. Portuguese public broadcaster RDP (now RTP) launched a contemporary music channel – Antena 3 - nominally targeting young people in 1994. Austrian public broadcaster ORF introduced FM4 in 1995.

Polish public broadcaster Polskie Radio started Radio 4 primarily for young people in 1976. Since, the name and everything else has changed several times. In 2006 Czech public broadcaster Cesky Rozhlas introduced an alternative music channel, CRo Radio Wave, with FM distribution in Prague targeting young people. A court battle ensued and the channel was relegated to digital platforms in 2009.

Italian public broadcaster RAI does not have a radio channel specifically for young people. After Greek public broadcaster ERT was shuttered its replacement, NERIT, offered no radio channel for young people.

Young audiences – and the challenge of chasing them – are once again important to public broadcasters with aging composite audiences. Pirate stations are, mostly, gone but webstreaming is all the rage. Having a conversation with young people is always a challenge.

See also in ftm Knowledge

Public Broadcasting - Arguments, Battles and Changes

Public broadcasters have - mostly - thrown off the musty stain of State broadcasting. And audiences for public channels are growing. But arguments and battles with politicians, publishers and commercial broadcasters threatens more changes. The ftm Knowledge file examines all sides. 168 pages PDF (March 2014)

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