Sputnik (radio station)

Sputnik
Broadcast areaSaxony
Saxony-Anhalt
Thuringia
Programming
Language(s)German
FormatContemporary hit radio
Ownership
OperatorMitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR)
MDR Sachsen
MDR Sachsen-Anhalt
MDR Thüringen – Das Radio
MDR Kultur
MDR Aktuell
MDR Jump
MDR Klassik
MDR Schlagerwelt
MDR Tweens
History
First air date
16 May 1964 (as DT64)
1 May 1993 (as Sputnik)
Former names
DT64 (1964–1993)
Links
WebcastListen Live
WebsiteOfficial website

Sputnik or MDR Sputnik is a youth-oriented German radio station, and is part of Leipzig-based public broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), based in Halle. The station, which primarily broadcasts pop and rock music, is the successor to the East German youth station DT64, founded in 1964 on the occasion of the Deutschlandtreffen der Jugend [de]. It was given its present name on 1 May 1993, following German reunification in 1990; the new name, inspired by the Soviet Sputnik satellite, was the suggestion of the then Minister-President of Saxony, Kurt Biedenkopf.