WDR 3

WDR 3 is the cultural radio wave of Westdeutscher Rundfunk in North Rhine-Westphalia. According to WDR's own description, the radio program is dedicated to sophisticated “words” and classical music. Modern approaches to music are also given ample space. After WDR 5, WDR 3 is the station with the highest information density in the fields of politics and culture. The magazine Journal covers current events several times a day. These eight-minute broadcasts feature short news, a commentary, and several reports. Among the earlier renowned word programs of WDR 3 were “Am Abend vorgestellt” and the “Kritisches Tagebuch,” established in 1967.

The station's advertising slogan has changed several times. From 1999 (possibly even earlier) to 2007, it was: “WDR 3. Das Kulturereignis”; over the years, various more or less abstract, but target group-independent symbolic images, such as a water surface, were used. From 2008, the slogan was “WDR 3. Aus Lust am Hören,” and the website and advertising brochures were visually aimed at the target group of “Best Agers” and retirees. The main photo on the WDR 3 website long featured a woman over 50 with headphones and an mp3 device happily enjoying nature, and in 2011, a white-haired man with headphones and a white notebook computer in an almost sterile, snow-white environment. Since 2012, the station has lacked an advertising slogan.

At irregular intervals, WDR 3 opens its program schedule and broadcasts an entire “radio day” on a specific topic, such as on September 21, 2013, 99 years after the start of World War I: Atemlos, taumelnd, überhitzt. Der Vorabend des Ersten Weltkriegs.