DW-TV: Ten Years of Information Competence

DW-TV, Germany's International TV broadcaster, is ten years old today (2nd April). Christoph Lanz, DW-TV's director comments: "Without doubt, DW-TV now represents a globally recognised brand among other international information providers in terms of the external media presentation of Germany." Lanz further commented in a DW statement on 2nd April that the foreign television channel, produced in Berlin, had become an outstanding example of "pure information competence."
DW-TV began broadcasting on 2nd April 1992, initially for six hours, and later for 14 hours per day, with programmes broadcast in German, English and Spanish. The next goal was reached on 1st July 1995 when the service was expanded to full 24-hour programming. The decisive leap to global technical presence for DW-TV was achieved with the switching to the AsiaSat 2 satellite in 1996. Technically, the German foreign television channel can now be received in over 137 million households on all continents. Some 22 million viewers regularly watch the channel.
Asked about the core target group, Lanz stated that the priority was "decision makers and multipliers interested in Germany and with a European viewpoint". The television director emphasises that the continuous growth in acceptance, as well as qualitative tests by DW's media research with core target groups in countries outside Europe, show that DW-TV is reaching its core target group. Moreover, DW-TV is judged by its target groups to be one of the best services in the international TV-broadcasting sector. These groups associate the channel with attributes such as trustworthiness, professionalism, neutrality and objectivity. DW-TV has been the in-flight TV channel on all of Lufthansa's (LH) intercontinental flights since 1994. LH and DW now offer passengers on these flights a twice-daily regionalised news service in German and English.

DW-TV's first programme restructuring took place on 1st April 1997. The expansion of the news segment, the redesign of programme content and topic bundling in the magazine programmes were the essential elements with which DW-TV continued to create viewer loyalty. The news flagship "JOURNAL" was expanded to a full 30 minutes with greater concentration on information content.
From 1st January 1999, DW-TV was repositioned with the slogan "Aus der Mitte Europas" ("At the Heart of Europe"). Since then, DW-TV's key feature has been programming focussed on news, magazine programmes, features and documentaries, forgoing light entertainment. In line with this new strategic direction, DW-TV is presented in a new on-air-design - which has since won several awards - endowing it with an unmistakable profile in international media markets. "The repositioning enabled us to improve the significance of DW-TV as an advertising platform for companies seeking a global image," sums up the TV Director. "The expansion of technical range on the one hand, and the high level of acceptance in our core target groups on the other hand, have made the channel attractive to international advertising markets."

2nd April 2002
48/02