Launched December 27, 1965 | Founded 17 December 1965 | |
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Broadcast area North Rhine-Westphalia, also distributed nationally and in:AustriaBelgiumLiechtensteinLuxembourgNetherlandsSwitzerland Formerly called Westdeutsches FernsehenWest 3 | ||
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WDR Fernsehen is a regional public service television channel owned and operated by Westdeutscher Rundfunk and serving North Rhine-Westphalia. It is one of the seven regional "third programmes" that are offered within the federal ARD network.
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The station began broadcasting on December 17, 1965, as Westdeutsches Fernsehen (WDF), changing its name to West 3 in 1988, before settling for WDR Fernsehen in 1994.
Originally transmitted only in North Rhine-Westphalia, the channel has become available across Germany with the advent of cable and satellite television. The station is also available free-to-air across Europe via Astra 19.2°E.
In November 2013, a new logo was launched.
News sub-regions
WDR Fernsehen operates eleven sub-regional opt-out services, each broadcasting a 30-minute local news programme entitled Lokalzeit at 19.30 each Monday to Saturday evening together with a shorter, 5-minute bulletin at 18.00 on Mondays to Fridays: