ERF Plus

ERF Plus
	Radio station ( private )
Program type	evangelical program radio
reception	Cable , satellite , DAB , livestream
Reception area	Germany Switzerland;
Start of transmission	5th February 1961
owner	ERF media e. V.
executive Director	Andreas Odrich
List of radio stations

ERF Plus (until August 31, 2011: ERF Radio ) is the radio program from ERF Medien e. V (formerly: Evangeliums-Rundfunk) in Wetzlar , a Christian special-interest program, the content of which focuses on faith and life support and provides news from society and the community.

History of ERF Radio

In 1961 the first broadcasts were broadcast on Trans World Radio (TWR) in Monte Carlo. At that time, the ERF saw itself as the German branch of TWR. In addition, there were other broadcasts for German-speaking immigrants in South Africa from Swaziland, transmission systems in the Netherlands Antilles and, since 1966, broadcasts on medium wave (at that time also from Monte Carlo, later also transmission systems in Russia).

Since April 1, 1996, Evangeliums-Rundfunk has also been using a medium-wave transmitter on the frequency 1539 kHz from Mainflingen , on which the Deutschlandfunk previously broadcast its program. With the participation in the cable pilot project in Rhineland-Palatinate , which marks the beginning of private radio in Germany, the first broadcasts were transmitted to private broadcasters. With the first analog transponder via the Astra satellite , the station was expanded to a 24-hour program in 1994. A year later, a second sound carrier was rented and a second program, ERF 2 , started. This was a music program of the ERF, which was mainly geared towards the mainstream of Christian pop music, while the main program, ERF 1 , a classic program radio with thematic programs and church, choir and classical music remained in the musical part. In 2003, the two programs were merged again, with the concept of the audible pop music-oriented station being deleted without replacement. In 2004 the youth program Cross Channel was started as a sister project of ERF Radio. With him, the previous youth program erf Junge welle (previously heard on ERF 2 or ERF Radio ) was expanded into the youth-oriented Internet radio CrossChannel.de , which was closed at the end of January 2014.

The shortwave broadcasts on Trans World Radio Monte Carlo were discontinued in October 2007. In 2011, medium-wave transmissions were gradually reduced to 1539 kHz for cost reasons and then discontinued completely. Instead, the main program ERF Radio is broadcast in the nationwide DAB ensemble (in the DAB + coding). Since September 1, 2011, the station has been called ERF Plus.

In 2009 the ERF started the pop channel ERF Pop .

Web radio CrossChannel.de

CrossChannel logo

CrossChannel.de was an ERF web radio aimed at younger listeners and as such a sister program of ERF Plus. The station emerged in March 2004 from the "Junge Welle". CrossChannel.de was produced by a six-person permanent editorial and moderator team, as well as a number of freelancers. The declared target group were adolescents and young adults. CrossChannel.de was the largest German web radio in the Christian area. Mainly Christian pop music was broadcast (especially rock , pop and hip-hop ). There were also speeches on Christian topics and magazine programs with information. Like the parent broadcaster ERF, CrossChannel.de was financed exclusively from donations. In 2010 CrossChannel.de was awarded the golden WebFish , the Internet award of the Evangelical Church in Germany .

The internet station was discontinued on January 31, 2014. The decision was justified with increased distribution costs for the main program and with the fact that the acceptance of the Internet station, especially among people who “do not yet know so much about Jesus”, had not developed as hoped.

Logos

Former logo of the station until August 31, 2011
Logo of the former station ERF 2
General ERF logo with the radio lettering
Current logo since September 1st, 2011
Variant of the current logo: ERF identifier colored in the transmitter color

The program

ERF Plus offers a classic program schedule with topic-related programs, both with music and extensive broadcasts with word broadcasts. The broadcaster sees its program mission as being “to help through radio and television broadcasts that people become Christians and Christians remain Christians” (former ERF homepage). The ERF Plus program is aimed at “people with time to listen” (claim in the announcement). Words are based on the most varied of topics of Christianity, pastoral care, church life and theology. Musically, the station has Christian classical music, gospel music, Christian songwriters and hymns in the program. The hourly news also contains current news from the church or events with a Christian connection.

As part of the program reform in September 2011, current content in the program and magazine formats was expanded in the afternoon and evening program (“Calando”, “Journal”).

reception

ERF Plus can be received on the Internet via live stream and in Central Europe digitally via satellite (Astra) and a telephone server . The program can also be heard in the networks of Kabel Deutschland and Kabel Baden-Württemberg and in the Hessian and North Rhine-Westphalian broadband cable networks. Since the beginning of 2013, the program has not been fed into the analogue cable radio in Hesse or in those parts of North Rhine-Westphalia where good reception via DAB + is guaranteed. The reception on the digital cable radio is also continued there. In addition, ERF Plus could be received in the urban area of Wetzlar on the VHF frequency 90.0 MHz, the accompanying program ERF Pop has been running there since 2012 . There are also selected programs as podcasts .

DAB +

ERF Plus is broadcast nationwide in Germany in the federal mux on channel 5C. In Switzerland, ERF Plus can be received in the second DAB multiplex of Swiss Media Cast ( DAB + ) in German-speaking Switzerland. Since May 28, 2019, ERF Plus has also been broadcast nationwide in Austria in the Bundesmux there on channel 5B.

literature

ANTENNE - bimonthly magazine of the ERF, with program overview and other topics

Web links

ERF Plus website
Website of crosschannel.de ( Memento from December 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b The history of the ERF
↑ Odrich, as editor-in-chief, occupies the position of managing director in the ERF radio division, see also: The team
↑ ERF Medien starts on August 1st via DAB + . Press release of April 22, 2011. Accessed April 23, 2011.
↑ CrossChannel.de - the story ( Memento from April 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
↑ Support CrossChannel.de ( Memento from July 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
↑ We say: see you soon! ( Memento from January 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) on crosschannel.de, January 7, 2014 (accessed on January 7, 2014).
↑ Distribution via digital radio is partially replacing analog cable transmission . ERF press release. December 7, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
↑ Faith in the ear - second digital program from ERF Medien. livenet.ch, June 26, 2012

[geschichte-1] The history of the ERF

[2] Odrich, as editor-in-chief, occupies the position of managing director in the ERF radio division, see also: The team

[3] ERF Medien starts on August 1st via DAB + . Press release of April 22, 2011. Accessed April 23, 2011.

[erfjungewelle-4] CrossChannel.de - the story ( Memento from April 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive )

[ccspenden-5] Support CrossChannel.de ( Memento from July 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive )

[6] We say: see you soon! ( Memento from January 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) on crosschannel.de, January 7, 2014 (accessed on January 7, 2014).

[7] Distribution via digital radio is partially replacing analog cable transmission . ERF press release. December 7, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2012.

[8] Faith in the ear - second digital program from ERF Medien. livenet.ch, June 26, 2012