DW-TV


DW-TV is a German multilingual TV news network of Deutsche Welle. Focussing on news and informational programming, it first started broadcasting 1 April 1992. DW broadcasts on satellite and is uplinked from Berlin. DW's English broadcast service is aimed at an international audience.

History

The predecessor of DW-TV was RIAS-TV, a television station launched by RIAS, a West Berlin broadcaster in August 1988. The fall of the Berlin Wall the following year and German reunification in 1990 led to the closure of RIAS-TV.
On 1 April 1992, Deutsche Welle inherited RIAS-TV's broadcast facilities, using them to start a German and English-language television channel broadcast via satellite, DW, adding a short Spanish broadcast segment the following year. In 1995, it began 24-hour operation. At that time, DW introduced a new news studio and a new logo.
In 2001, Deutsche Welle founded a subscription TV channel for North American viewers called German TV. The project was shut down after four years due to low subscriber numbers. It was replaced by the DW-TV channel, which is also a subscription service.
Unlike most other international broadcasters, DW-TV doesn't charge terrestrial stations for use of its programming, and as a result its DW News and other programmes are rebroadcast on numerous public broadcasting stations in several countries, including the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. In the Philippines, some English-language programmes are broadcast nationwide on Net 25 and PTV 4. In the U.S., some of its programs were distributed via the World Channel as well as MHz Worldview, although after the closure of MHz Worldview in 2020, a few stations have since offered a full carriage of DW-TV.
In March 2009, DW-TV expanded its television services in Asia with two new channels: DW-TV Asia and DW-TV Asia+. DW-TV Asia broadcasts 16 hours of German programming and eight hours in English while DW-TV Asia+ broadcasts 18 hours of English programmes plus six hours of German programmes.
In August 2009, DW-TV ceased broadcasts on Sky channel 794 in the United Kingdom. The channel continues to be available via other satellites receivable in the UK.
Deutsche Welle relaunched their television channels and their schedules on 6 February 2012, using the abbreviation DW for all its services.
Deutsche Welle changed its schedules again on 22 June 2015, with DW in Asia and Oceania and DW merged to become a 24-hour English news channel. English programmes on DW and DW were discontinued.

Logos

Reception

DW-TV is broadcast via the AsiaSat 7, GSAT-15, Nilesat 102, Atlantic Bird 3, Hot Bird 13B, AMC-1 and Intelsat 9 satellites.
DW-TV is also available on the Internet and on Digital terrestrial television in a handful of cities in the United States.

Satellite jamming

A transponder on Hot Bird 8, used by DW-TV among other stations, was jammed on 7 and 8 December 2009. Eutelsat, the operator of the satellite localised the emitter source in Iran. The same happened between 10 and 13 February 2010.

Programmes

All programme names given in this article are the ones currently used on DW English and DW German website.

Business

  • ''Made in Germany''

    Sports

  • Kick Off!
  • REV
  • ''The Bundesliga''

    Arts and culture

  • Arts Unveiled
  • Kino
  • Treasures of the World
  • Ideas for a Cooler World, for climate change mitigation

    Documentaries and features

  • Close Up
  • World Stories
  • Faith Matters
  • DocFilm or DokFilm
  • Germany 60 Years
  • The Climate Cover Up - Big Oil's Campaign of Deception ; New documents confirm big oil companies have known the burning of fossil fuels impacts climate since 1957.
  • ''Worldlink''

    Lifestyle and entertainment

  • Euromaxx
  • popXport
  • Sarah's Music
  • Europe in Concert
  • Germany Today *
  • Check-In
  • Talking Germany *
  • Living in Germany *
  • Discover Germany *
  • Discover the World
* Program is no longer broadcast

News and politics

  • DW News
  • The Day
  • Conflict Zone — with Tim Sebastian
  • Focus on Europe
  • European Journal
  • ''DW World Today''

    Talk shows

  • To the Point
  • ''Agenda''

    Health, science and environment

  • In Good Shape
  • Shift
  • Tomorrow Today
  • Global Us
  • ''Eco@Africa''

    Channels

As of 2 January 2026, DW operates four channels:
  • DW : Broadcast in worldwide.
  • DW : Broadcast in Latin America and USA.
  • DW : Broadcast for Middle East and North Africa. Available on streaming and satellite Eutelsat 8 West B
  • DW : Broadcast for Russia. Available on streaming and satellite Eutelsat HotBird 13

    Former channels

  • DW : This channel stopped broadcasting on the Astra 1M satellite on 15 December 2017, but continues to broadcast on the Nilesat and Badr4 satellites, which reach both the Middle East and Europe. DW Arabic is aimed at Arabic speakers who had come to Europe as refugees, and residents of the Middle East.
  • DW : This channel stopped broadcasting on 1 September 2023, replaced by DW. Previously broadcast in Asia-Pacific, in the eastern hemisphere and online.
  • DW : Broadcast in the Americas, from 1 September 2023 in worldwide. This channel stopped broadcasting on 1 January 2024.