Südwestdeutscher Rundfunk
SWR is one of nine public state broadcasting organisations. It was founded in 1998 as a merger of Süddeutscher Rundfunk and Südwestfunk. Its broadcasting area mainly comprises the federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg. In terms of the number of employees, SWR is the second largest broadcasting organisation after WDR.
The management of SWR consists of the director general and nine directors. According to the SWR State Treaty, the director general is "responsible for all operations and programming".
SWR also has two central committees:
The Administrative Board consists of 18 members. The Broadcasting Council elects ten members from among its own members, whereby these may neither be state members nor representatives of the leading municipal organisations. Three members are delegated by the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg and one member by the state parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate. The state governments of the two federal states each delegate one member, and the SWR Staff Council delegates two members.
The Broadcasting Council consists of 74 members. 51 of these are delegated by the state of Baden-Württemberg and 23 by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. A total of 12 of the 74 members come from the state parliaments of the two federal states, while the remaining members come from various social and cultural interest groups such as trade unions, churches and sports associations. This composition is intended to reflect the plurality of society and ensure that all interests are represented on the Broadcasting Council.
Business Form
public
Legal Form
Institution under public law (Anstalt des öffentlichen Rechts)
Individual Owner
Other TV Outlets
SWR Fernsehen (2%)
Other Radio Outlets
SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz (0.8%);
SWR2 (0.4%);
SWR4 Baden-Württemberg (1.3%);
SWR 4 Rheinland-Pfalz (0.6%);
DASDING (0.5%);
SWR Aktuell (0.2%);
SWR2 Archivradio (Webradio)
Other Online Outlets
www.swr.de (0.4%);
www.dasgind.de (MD);
www.swrfernsehen.de (MD);
www.planet-wissen.de (0.06%);
www.swr3.de (0.1%);
www.swrmediathek.de (0%)
Media Business
Finanzholding, Produktion und Vertrieb
SWR Media Services GmbH (100%)
Software und Datenanalyse
PUB - Public Value Technologies GmbH (50%)
Film funding
MFG Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg mbH (49%)
Film production
Bavaria Film GmbH (16.67%)
Advertising
ARD MEDIA GmbH (11.11%)
Market Research
AGF Videoforschung GmbH (1.76%)
Cultural promotion
Haus des Dokumentarfilms / Europäisches Medienforum Stuttgart e.V. (50.24%)
Film Rights
Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten mbH (25%)
Event management
Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele gGmbH (33.33%)
Education
ARD/ZDF-Medienakademie gemeinnützige GmbH (14.6%)
Film rights and Marketing
Degeto Film GmbH (11.11%)
TV-Broadcasting
ARTE Deutschland TV GmbH (8.38%)
TV
ARTE G.E.I.E. (4.19%)
Sports Broadcasting Rights
SportA Sportrechte- und Marketingagentur GmbH (5.56%)
Cultural Promotion
SWR Experimentalstudio e.V. (84.88%)
Archive work
Stiftung Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv (14.28%)
Business
TV channel
ARTE (via ARTE Deutschland GmbH) (Missing data)
General Information
Founding Year
1998
Affiliated Interests Founder
Until 1998, the federal state of Baden-Württemberg had two different state broadcasting organisations due to the division of the occupation zones after the Second World War. In 1997, the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate therefore concluded the Broadcasting Treaty on Southwest Broadcasting, which included a merger of the two broadcasting organisations Südwestfunk and Süddeutscher Rundfunk into a joint broadcasting organisation (SWR).
Employees
approx. 3580 permanent employees approx. 1850 freelancers
Contact
Südwestrundfunk (SWR)
Anstalt des öffentlichen Rechts
Neckarstraße 230
70190 Stuttgart
Telefon: 0711 929 0
Fax: 0711 929 11300
E-Mail: info@swr.de
Webseite: www.swr.de
Tax/ ID Number
DE 812481116
Financial Information
Revenue (Financial Data/ Optional)
€ 1.228,5 Billion / USD 1.289 Billion (2022)
Operating Profit (in Mill. $)
€ -61.4 Mio. / USD -64.47 Million (2022)
Advertising (in % of total funding)
€ 29.7 Million/ USD 31.2 Million (2022)
Management
Executive Board
Director General of SWR since September 2019. Since January 2023, he has also taken over the chairmanship of ARD, which rotates among the broadcasters. From 1999 to 2003, Gniffke was head of ARD-aktuell, of which he was the first editor-in-chief from 2006-2019. Gniffke is a member of the SPD. He is also a member of the supervisory boards of several companies in which SWR has a stake, as well as a member of various boards of trustees and foundation boards.
Schneider has been State Broadcasting Director for Baden-Württemberg and Deputy Director General since 2014. She was previously programme director of SWR4 BW. She is also a member of the supervisory board of Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg mbH.
Fiebig has been State Broadcasting Director for Rhineland-Palatinate since 2022. She previously headed the press office of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (2018-2021). She also worked as a correspondent in ARD's capital city office from 2016 to 2018.
Pieper has been Legal Director of SWR since 2022. She shares the position with Frauke Pieper. She was previously part of the legal department at ZDF. She represents SWR as a shareholder in SWR Media Services GmbH and the collecting society of film and television producers, among others.
Köth has been Legal Director of SWR since 2020. She shares the position with Frauke Pieper. Köth has worked in the legal department since 2003. She is also a member of the Administrative Board of the Central Contribution Service and Treasurer of the Mainz Media Institute.
Dauser has been Head of Innovation Management and Digital Transformation at SWR since 2021. Prior to this, he had been Head of Strategic Corporate Development at SWR since 2016. For SWR, Dauser is part of the Supervisory Board of Public Value Technologies GmbH.
Büttner has been the Administrative Director of SWR since 2012. Büttner represents SWR as a shareholder of SWR Media Services GmbH and is Chairman of the Board of Directors of ARD.ZDF medienakademie gGmbH.
Eberhard has been Head of the Directorate of Technology and Production since 2016. Since 1997, he has worked in several departments as Head of Department. He represents SWR on a number of committees, such as the supervisory board of the Information Processing Centre, a cooperation between ARD and Deutschlandradio. He is also a board member of the sponsoring organisation of the German Camera Award.
Bratzler has been Programme Director for Information, Sport, Fiction, Service and Entertainment since 2019. From 2014 to 2017, he was Deputy Editor-in-Chief of SWR Television, then Head of the Multimedia Current Affairs Department in Baden-Württemberg.Bratzler is a member of the Supervisory Board of Degeto GmbH and Bavaria Fiction GmbH, among others.
Mai has been Programme Director for Culture, Knowledge and Young Formats since 2020. She is Chairwoman of the SWR Experimental Studio e.V.
Non-Executive Board
The SWR Broadcasting Council consists of 74 members. Listed here are the chairperson, deputy chairperson, committee chairpersons and their deputies.
Chairman of the SWR Broadcasting Council since January 2023. He was delegated there by the Rhineland-Palatinate Chambers of Industry and Commerce. He was President of the Rheinhessen Chamber of Industry and Commerce from 2013 to 2021.
First Deputy Chairwoman of the Broadcasting Council since 2015 Paraschaki-Schauer is Managing Director of the Baden-Württemberg State Association of Municipal Representatives of Migrants (LAKA), which also delegates her to the Broadcasting Council. She ran unsuccessfully as a direct candidate for the SPD in the 2021 federal elections.
Second Deputy Chairwoman of the Broadcasting Council. Pagel-Steidl has been a member of the Broadcasting Council since 2003 as a representative of the State Association for People with Physical and Multiple Disabilities Baden-Württemberg e.V., of which she is also the full-time managing director.
Chairwoman of the Information Programme Committee. Dahlbender has been delegated to the Broadcasting Council by BUND Baden-Württemberg since 2015. She was the state chairwoman of the nature conservation organisation until 2021. Dahlbender is a member of the SPD.
Deputy Chairwoman of the Information Programme Committee. Ganster was delegated to the Broadcasting Council by the Rhineland-Palatinate Association of Districts. She is a district administrator (CDU) in the south-west Palatinate and was a member of the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament from 2011 to 2017.
Chairwoman of the Culture Programme Committee. Weckenmann was delegated to the Broadcasting Council by the Baden-Württemberg State Women's Council. She is a member of the SPD and was a member of the Baden-Württemberg state parliament from 2001 to 2006. Since 2012, Weckenmann has also been the state chairwoman of profamilia Baden-Württemberg.
Deputy Chairman of the Culture Programme Committee. He was delegated to the Broadcasting Council by the Baden-Württemberg State Music Council, of which he is also President. Wilske is an honorary professor of music education at the Trossingen University of Music. He is also a member of the CDU.
Chairman of the Committee for Law and Technology. Mr Tacke was delegated to the Broadcasting Council by the Rhineland-Palatinate Federation of Business Associations, of which he is Chief Executive. He is also Managing Director of the employers' association Pfalzmetall.
Deputy Chairwoman of the Legal and Technical Committee. Lehmann was delegated to the Broadcasting Council by the Baden-Württemberg State Sports Association (LSV). She is a member of the LSV's Executive Committee and is Chairwoman of the Women and Equality Committee.
Supervisory Board
has been Chairman of the SWR Administrative Board since 2011. He was elected by the Broadcasting Council and delegated there by the journalistic trade unions. Stechl also works as a publisher for Sternwaldverlag Freiburg.
Muscheid has been a member of the Administrative Board since 2015 and its Deputy Chairman since February 2024. He was state chairman of the German Trade Union Confederation Rhineland-Palatinate/Saarland from 2001 to 2021 and is a member of the SPD. Muscheid was also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AOK Rheinland-Pfalz/Saarland until 2023.
Alt was appointed by the state government of Rhineland-Palatinate. He is State Secretary in the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Science and Health. He was also a member of the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament (SPD) until 2021.
Bätzing-Lichtenthäler was appointed to the Administrative Board by the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament. She is a member of the SPD, deputy chairwoman of her state association and has been chairwoman of her parliamentary group since 2021. She was also a member of the German Bundestag from 2002 to 2014 and Rhineland-Palatinate's Minister for Social Affairs, Labour, Health and Demography from 2014 to 2021.
Ehrenfeld is one of the members elected by the Broadcasting Council and was delegated by the Association of German Writers in ver.di. Ehrenfeld was Managing Director of the Hölderlin Society until June 2023.
Gläser has been one of the members elected by the Broadcasting Council since September 2021. She was delegated by the Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Industry and Commerce. She is President of the IHK Nordschwarzwald and Managing Director of Gläser GmbH.
Häffner is one of the members of the Administrative Board delegated by the Baden-Württemberg state parliament. She has been a member of the state parliament for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen since 2011.
Hangen was delegated to the Administrative Board by the SWR Staff Council Rhineland-Palatinate, of which he has been Chairman since 2022. Hangen has worked as an editor for SWR since 1999.
Hoogvliet is one of the three members delegated by the state government of Baden-Württemberg. He has been State Secretary for Media in the State Ministry and Plenipotentiary of the State of Baden-Württemberg to the Federal Government since 2021. From 2011 to 2021, he was government spokesman for the state government of Baden-Württemberg (Kretschmann I and II).
Iervolino is one of the members elected by the Broadcasting Council. He was delegated by the State Association of Municipal Representatives of Migrants in Baden-Württemberg. Iervolino is a full-time lawyer and partner in a law firm. He is also active in an honorary capacity as Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Baugenossenschaft Esslingen e.G. and as a member of the Federal Immigration and Integration Council.
Jehle-Mungenast is one of the members of the Administrative Board elected by the Broadcasting Council and delegated by the Baden-Württemberg State Youth Council. He is part of the board of the St Anna Foundation Ellwangen.
Klaus Koziol is one of the members elected by the Broadcasting Council. He is delegated to this body by the Roman Catholic Church of Baden-Württemberg.
Krueger is a member of the Administrative Board elected by the Broadcasting Council. She was delegated to this body by the Europa-Union. From 2006 to 2011, Krueger was a member of the Baden-Württemberg state parliament (CDU).
Lenz was delegated to the Broadcasting Council by the German Civil Service Association (dbb) Rhineland-Palatinate and elected to the Administrative Board by the latter in 2020. She is the state chairwoman of the dbb Rhineland-Palatinate.
Nemeth was delegated to the Administrative Board by the Baden-Württemberg state parliament. He was a member of the state parliament from 2006 to 2021 as a member of the CDU. Since 2023, he has worked for the energy company RWE as a stakeholder manager. Nemeth is also a member of the Supervisory Board of Klinikverbund Südwest.
Stoch is an SPD politician and was appointed to the Administrative Board by the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg. He was Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Culture from January 2013 to May 2016 and is currently Chairman of both his state parliamentary group and his state association.
Wolber works as an editor for SWR. She was delegated to the Administrative Board by the SWR Baden-Württemberg Staff Council. Wolber is a member of the board of ver.di at SWR.
Zellhuber-Vogel has been one of the members elected by the Broadcasting Council since 2013 and was delegated there by the Catholic German Women's Association of Baden-Württemberg.
Further Information
Meta Data
The percentage of the total audience for radio stations is taken from the agma I/2024 survey and refers to the nationwide daily reach in the population aged 14 and over.
The percentage of the total audience for television stations is taken from the AGF Videoforschung in cooperation with the GfK 2023, accessed via Meedia.de and refers to the average annual share of the total audience.
The audience share in the online sector refers to the share of unique users, was collected by Nielsen and accessed via KEK. The date of the survey is unknown.
Note on the level of transparency:
Since a classification of the level of transparency with regard to ownership structures is not possible for public media, the evaluation included the availability of information on the supervisory and control bodies as well as information on their members and the transparency with regard to corporate investments.
