REGIOCAST

WDR trims news; Hamburg Zwei to rebrand

German public broadcaster WDR will change radio programming: WDR 2 will shorten its full-hour news from four to three minutes and reduce half-hour news bulletins, while regional reports from WDR state studios will also be broadcast on WDR 4. WDR 5 will change its evening schedule from 1 September to strengthen cooperation within the ARD, including airing the Tagesschau at 20:00 and new discussion and info formats. The commercial station Hamburg Zwei will be renamed

Hamburg Zwei Joins Antenne Bayern Network

Hamburg Zwei, a private Hamburg radio station, will join the Antenne Bayern Group's audio network and will be rebranded as "80er 90er Oldie Antenne Hamburg" by the end of August. Operational ownership remains unchanged: Radio 95.0 GmbH & Co. KG continues as the program operator and majority shareholder Frank Otto retains his stake; investments by Radio Hamburg, Regiocast and Radio ffn also remain. Radio 95.0's management says the partnership secures economic prospects while preserving the station's regional character and program responsibilities. Antenne Bayern Group views the deal as part of its nationwide network expansion and expects the brand's reach to grow across UKW 95.0, DAB+ and digital channels (webradio, app, smart speakers).

Smartclip Boosts Audience Targeting with Frank Plähn's Expertise

Smartclip has appointed Frank Plähn to its leadership team to expand its audience-targeting capabilities and data product offerings. CEO Thomas Servatius praised Plähn's track record in building data-driven products for the media industry and described his experience as a key addition to Smartclip's growth strategy and its data-driven approach to monetization. Plähn brings more than a decade of practical experience developing data products and digital audio marketing. Previously, he served as Director Data Monetization at Crossplan, where he helped grow online audio through data-driven monetization, product development, and user-retention solutions. Before Crossplan, he was Head of Product Management at Regiocast, where he established a product management team for digital audio distribution. The company emphasizes data privacy as part of its Data Journey, with Plähn noting the importance of solving privacy through technical measures while pursuing new monetization solutions for publishers and broadcasters.