Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln (pronounced [ˈvɛstˌdɔʏtʃɐ ˈʁʊntfʊŋk ˈkœln]; "West German Broadcasting Cologne"), shortened to WDR (pronounced [ˌveːdeːˈʔɛʁ] ⓘ), is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD. As well as contributing to the output of the national television channel Das Erste, WDR produces the regional television service WDR Fernsehen (formerly known as WDF and West3) and six regional radio networks.
Type
History[edit]
Origins[edit]
The Westdeutsche Funkstunde AG (WEFAG) was established on 15 September 1924.
There was a substantial purge of left wing staff following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933. This included Ernst Hardt, Hans Stein and Walter Stern.
WDR's first and original logo used from 1956 to 1970.
WDR's second and former logo used from 1970 to 1994.
WDR's third and previous logo used from 1994 to 2012.
WDR's fourth and current logo since 2012.
Funding[edit]
WDR is in part funded by the limited sale of on-air commercial advertising time; however, its principal source of income is the revenue derived from viewer and listener licence fees. As of 2023 the monthly fee due from each household for radio and television reception was €18.36.[4] These fees are collected not directly by WDR but by a joint agency of ARD (and its member institutions), ZDF, and Deutschlandradio.
