Audiotainment Südwest

Audiotainment Südwest GmbH & Co. KG is one of the leading private radio companies in Germany. The company, based in Mannheim, was founded on January 1, 2021, as a joint production company for the radio stations RPR1, Radio Regenbogen, bigFM, and Rock FM. However, the collaboration between the parent companies dates back to 2004, when the three stations first cooperated in various areas.

Audiotainment Südwest is centrally responsible for the program production and strategic development of all four radio programs. The parent companies – Radio Regenbogen GmbH & Co. KG and bigFM Baden-Württemberg GmbH & Co. KG, both based in Mannheim, and Rheinland-Pfälzische Rundfunk GmbH & Co. KG, based in Ludwigshafen – remain independent license holders. The company is managed by the managing directors Kai Fischer (Chairman) and Tobias Heger.

RPR1 went on the air on April 30, 1986, as one of the first nationwide private radio stations in Germany, and remains the market leader among private radio stations in Rhineland-Palatinate. According to the Media-Analyse 2025 Audio II, the station reaches approximately 1.3 million listeners per day and is receivable via a dense FM network as well as DAB+ in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. RPR1 operates its own regional studios in Ludwigshafen, Mainz, Koblenz, and Trier, and offers numerous thematic web streams in addition to its main program. The station is socially engaged through the RPR hilft e.V. association and, among other things, collected 1.75 million euros for the reconstruction of the Ahr Valley after the flood disaster in 2021.

Radio Regenbogen began broadcasting on March 25, 1988, and is the private radio station with the largest reach in Baden-Württemberg. Reaching approximately 2.94 million listeners per week, the station based in Mannheim reaches its audience via FM frequencies in Baden and the Palatinate, as well as nationwide via DAB+. Radio Regenbogen operates regional studios in Mannheim, Karlsruhe, and Freiburg. The station is a founding member of the Pop Academy Baden-Württemberg and has been awarding the prestigious Radio Regenbogen Award since 1998, recognizing personalities from music, media, sports, and society. With the "Children under the Rainbow" initiative, the station supports families in Baden-Württemberg.

bigFM launched on April 1, 2000, as a youth radio station for southwestern Germany, and has since grown into the largest private youth radio station in Germany. The station plays a Contemporary Hit Radio format and, according to Media-Analyse 2025 Audio II, reaches approximately 2.7 million listeners per day. bigFM broadcasts via FM in Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, and North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as via DAB+ in a total of ten federal states, including Berlin, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Bremen, and Hesse. The central broadcasting center is located in Mannheim, with regional studios in Stuttgart, Ludwigshafen, Saarbrücken, and Cologne. Prominent presenters include Lukas Podolski and Bill Kaulitz. The station has won the German Radio Award multiple times and is the exclusive radio partner of the Tomorrowland festival. In 2023, bigFM introduced the first fully AI-generated web stream of a German radio station with bigGPT.

Rock FM (formerly known as Regenbogen 2) is a station specializing in rock music, based in Mannheim. On July 1, 2016, the station took over the regional FM frequencies of sunshine live and was renamed Rock FM on May 1, 2024. The program plays exclusively rock music from all decades, with a focus on the 1980s and 1990s. Rock FM is receivable via FM in the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region, as well as via DAB+ in Baden-Württemberg, Saarland, and North Rhine-Westphalia. The station regularly hosts events such as the Rock-FM-Festival in Michelstadt and the Rock FM Rock Night in Mosbach.

Together, Audiotainment Südwest and its four stations reach over 6.1 million listeners per day and 14.4 million online audio sessions per month. The broadcasting area extends across Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Lower Saxony, Hamburg, Bremen, Berlin, and Brandenburg.