Radio SAW

Logo of Radio SAW

The private radio station radio SAW is the market leader in the Saxony-Anhalt radio market and reaches approximately 1.1 million listeners daily in its broadcast area, which encompasses Saxony-Anhalt as well as parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony, Brandenburg, and Thuringia. The programming targets primarily the 19 to 49-year-old demographic. The program combines Hot AC ("Hot Adult Contemporary")—current pop and rock music with well-known pieces primarily from the 1980s through 2000s—with regional content.


A central characteristic of radio SAW is its strong regional news competence, reflected in regular local news bulletins, traffic reports, and weather updates. The station operates various regional studios to ensure close connection with the regions. The award-winning morning show "radio SAW Muckefuck" is the most popular format in the programming lineup.


The station is also active as an organizer and media partner of numerous regional events and sports clubs, including 1. FC Magdeburg and Eintracht Braunschweig; this underscores the station's strong regional ties. Radio SAW is owned and operated by VMG Verlags- und Medien GmbH & Co. KG.

Key Facts

Audience Share30.5% (Saxony-Anhalt)
Ownership TypePrivate
Content TypeFree
Data Publicly Available
ownership data is easily available from other sources, e. g. public registries etc.
Media Companies / GroupsVMG Verlags- und Medien GmbH & Co.KG
legal_identifier: Limited Liability Company and Limited Partnership (GmbH & Co. KG) Commercial Register of the Stendal District Court: Registration Number HRA 20658 VAT Identification Number: DE 139236498

Ownership

Ownership Structure

Radio SAW is operated by VMG Verlags- und Medien GmbH & Co. KG. The largest shareholder is the NWZ Media Group (44.9%) led by Count Stephan von Bothmer and the Köser family. Radiocast GmbH (16.6%) with its total of 19 shareholders also holds significant shares, as does AZ Logistik GmbH (4%), which is attributable to Dirk Ippen through F. Wolff & Sohn KG. The remaining shares are distributed among small investors. Regiocast GmbH & Co. KG has a total of 19 limited partners, including both media companies and private individuals. The largest shareholder is medien holding:nord (25%), a subsidiary of NOZ MEDIEN Verlags GmbH.
For technical reasons, shares below one percent cannot be displayed. However, due to their participation in multiple media companies, even small stakes are significant. Through Regiocast, the following owners hold minimal stakes in radio SAW: Social Democratic Party of Germany (0.68%), Sylvia Madsack (0.59%), Mohn family (0.09%), Friede Springer and Mathias Döpfner, Ariane Melanie and Axel Sven Springer, Funke family, Burda family, and Friedmann family (each below 0.01%).

Voting RightsNo information is available regarding divergent voting rights deviating from the shareholder structure.
Individual Owner
Group / Individual Owner
  • Christian-Tobias, Björn and Olaf Heinrich

    Christian-Tobias, Björn und Olaf Heinrich sind die Nachfahren des Kieler Verlegers Christian Heinrich und Gesellschafter der Kieler Nachrichten, die von der Kieler Zeitung Verlags- und Druckerei KG GmbH herausgegeben werden. Über ihre Anteile an der Heinrich Beteiligungs GmbH sind sie Gesellschafter der Regiocast GmbH & Co. KG und damit auch Gesellschafter von Radio SAW.
    1.05

Media Companies / Groups

Facts

Founding Year1992

Radio SAW was one of two successful applications for a call for state-wide radio frequencies issued by the State Media Authority of Saxony-Anhalt (Landesmedienanstalt Sachsen-Anhalt).

Founder
  • VMG Verlags- und Medien GmbH & Co. KG

    VMG Verlags- und Medien was founded to apply for and operate a radio frequency in Saxony-Anhalt. The principal shareholder of VMG was and continues to be the NWZ Publishing Group led by Count Stephan von Bothmer and the Köser family. The NWZ Publishing Group is broadly diversified in the radio business and holds stakes in a total of 68 radio stations.

CEO
  • Michael Mezödi

    Michael Mezödi has served as Managing Director at VMG since 2024. He began his career in radio and publishing in the 1980s and most recently worked as Managing Director at Radio SaLü.

Editor-In-Chief
  • Ronny Schulz

    Ronny Schulz has served as Programming Director at VMG since September 2023. He comes from Teutocast Content and Operations GmbH, where he significantly shaped the establishment of a nationwide DAB+ radio full-service program for mobile audiences, including building the editorial team. Previously, he worked for over 16 years at Funkhaus Halle, including in the role of managing editor.

Other Important People
  • Reinhard Köser

    Reinhard Köser was publisher of the Nordwest-Zeitung in the third generation. In 1991 he founded VMG Verlags- und Medien GmbH & Co. KG with several other shareholders from Saxony-Anhalt, which received the broadcasting license for radio SAW in 1992. He died in 2018 and bequeathed his shares to his descendants Hartwig, Fritz-Hermann, and Inga.

ContactHansapark 1
39116 Magdeburg
Germany
info@radiosaw.de
0800 1 630 630
https://www.radiosaw.de/
RevenueMissing Data
Operating ProfitMissing Data
Advertising (in % of total funding)Missing Data
Market ShareMissing Data
Headlines
Meta Data

Audience share according to ma 2025 Audio I, German-speaking population aged 14 and above, Monday through Friday. There are no publicly available financial statements specific to radio SAW. Revenue and earnings from radio SAW are not separately itemized in the annual financial reports of the owner companies.

Sources
Documents (PDF)
  • Konzernabschluss 2023, Nordwest Medien Gruppe, HRA 3586
    File
  • Ausdruck Handelsregister Radio SAW
    File
  • Liste der Gesellschafter Radio SAW
    File