Offener Kanal Schleswig-Holstein

What Offener Kanal Schleswig-Holstein does

Offener Kanal Schleswig-Holstein (OKSH AöR) is a public broadcasting institution established in 1984 under the OK-Gesetz of Schleswig-Holstein as an Anstalt des öffentlichen Rechts. The organization operates four regional mediaHub locations — Kiel (headquarters), Lübeck, Heide/Westküste, and Flensburg — plus external studios in Ratzeburg and Travemünde, providing citizens of Schleswig-Holstein free access to professional TV and radio production facilities. It broadcasts on four FM frequencies (Kiel 101.2 MHz, Lübeck 106.5 MHz, Westküste 97.6 MHz plus sub-frequencies) with parallel online livestreaming and a Mediathek on-demand archive. As of June 2026, all four sites have been rebranded as 'OKSH mediaHub' to reflect an expanded mandate encompassing digital participation, media education, and democracy education.

The organization's core product surface includes community broadcasting infrastructure, a MakerSpace equipped with 3D printers, VR, laser engraving, and 360° cameras, the Audioproduktion@home remote audio capability, and the 'Bürger Senden' mobile app for smartphone-based citizen broadcasting. It operates free seminars, workshops, school and youth programs (SchülerMedienLotse, OJMC, Radiofüchse), the annual MEKO Festival with ~60 workshops, and competitions including 'Nur 48 Stunden' and 'HörMöwe.' OKSH also serves as host and coordinator of the Netzwerk Medienkompetenz Schleswig-Holstein, a 19-member statewide media competency network, and administers the Meko-Förderung grant program.

The business model is public-sector: OKSH is funded through state budget allocations from Land Schleswig-Holstein, supplemented by project-specific grants from the Bundesfamilienministerium and the Medienanstalt Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein (MA HSH). All services are provided free of charge, with no commercial pricing or subscription revenue. The institution employs ~10 staff and operates under a statutory mandate rather than market-based revenue mechanics, making it fundamentally a publicly funded civic infrastructure provider rather than a commercial enterprise.

Name

Offener Kanal Schleswig-Holstein

Legal name

Offener Kanal Schleswig-Holstein (OKSH AöR)

Website

https://oksh.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Offener Kanal Schleswig-Holstein (OKSH AöR) is a publicly funded broadcaster and media education institution established in 1984, operating four regional mediaHub locations across Schleswig-Holstein to provide free citizen TV/radio production access and digital literacy programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Kiel

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Public Institution Funding: OKSH is established as Anstalt des öffentlichen Rechts (public law institution) under the OK-Gesetz (Open Channel Act) of Schleswig-Holstein. It receives state funding from the Land Schleswig-Holstein for operating public-access broadcasting and media education services.
2. Meko-Förderung (Media Competency Funding): OKSH administers and distributes the state-funded Meko-Förderung grant program for media competency projects across Schleswig-Holstein, as defined in the OKSH-Förderrichtlinie.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

OKSH is a public-law broadcasting institution that provides free citizen-access TV and radio production and broadcasting infrastructure across Schleswig-Holstein. Citizens produce their own programs which are distributed via FM frequencies, online livestreams, and a media library. The organization also delivers media literacy education, MakerSpace access, seminars, workshops, and youth media programs through four regional mediaHub locations and mobile outreach units.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• OK Radio: Community radio programming produced by citizens across Schleswig-Holstein
• OK Fernsehen
• Netzwerk Medienkompetenz Schleswig-Holstein
• MEKO Festival

Products and services

• OK Fernsehen (Community TV Broadcasting)
• OK Radio (Community Radio Broadcasting)
• OKSH mediaHub (Regional Media Centers)
• OK-MakerSpace Digital experience space equipped with 3D printers (Ultimaker 2+/3), 360° video cameras (Ricoh Theta SC), virtual reality (HTC Vive), laser engraver, vinyl cutter, digital embroidery machine, Mevo multicam streaming, Calliope Mini, littleBits, Arduino, and Raspberry Pi. Available to citizens for digital fabrication and creative technology projects.
• Audioproduktion@home Remote audio production service allowing citizens to produce radio content from home and submit it for broadcast on OKSH FM frequencies and online streams.
• Mediathek (Media Library) On-demand archive of past TV and radio broadcasts accessible to the public via OKSH websites for replay of citizen-produced content.
• Medienkompetenz (Media Competency) Seminars and Workshops Free seminars and workshops delivering media literacy training to citizens, including audio/video driver's licenses, GameTreff, school development days, and educator training programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 50 school and youth projects conducted annually at OK Lübeck alone
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Ostsee-Jugendbüro des Landesjugendrings Schleswig-HolsteincoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 August 2024OKSH co-organizes the annual OstseeJugendMedienCamp (OJMC) with the Ostsee-Jugendbüro, a program that brings ~30 youth from the Baltic Sea region to produce cross-border media content. The camp includes video, audio, and multimedia production workshops, media facility visits, and live broadcasts.
• Netzwerk Medienkompetenz Schleswig-Holstein (19 member institutions)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOKSH serves as the institutional host and coordinator for the Medienkompetenz-Netzwerk Schleswig-Holstein, which consists of 19 statewide institutions from state and civil society. The network conducts Regionalkonferenzen, the MEKO Festival, and SaferInternetDay activities, and develops the state media competency strategy.
• Landesverband Jugend & Film Schleswig-Holstein e.V.majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of the 'Nur 48 Stunden' filmmaking competition in Kiel, one of the fastest film competitions where participants have 48 hours to shoot and edit a short film.
• Studentenwerk Schleswig-HolsteinminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of the 'Nur 48 Stunden' filmmaking competition, contributing to youth media education in Schleswig-Holstein.
• Ostsee-Jugendbüro / Landesjugendring Schleswig-Holstein (OJMC co-organizer)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer with OKSH of the OstseeJugendMedienCamp, bringing ~30 young people from Baltic Sea countries to produce international media content over 10 days.
• Lernortverbund 'Lübeck lernt Zukunft'majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOK Lübeck collaborates with the Lernortverbund 'Lübeck lernt Zukunft' (learning location network) on multiple projects including KI-Parcours (AI courses), youth conferences, and digital education programs.
• Schleswig-Holstein Musik FestivalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOKSH stations (Kiel FM, Lübeck FM, Westküste FM) jointly produce a nine-week radio series covering concerts, artists, and musical highlights of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• JFF – Institut für Medienpädagogik: Munich-based research and media-education institute active across Germany. Comparable to OKSH's Medienkompetenz mission (workshops, youth media projects, research), but operates as an NGO rather than a broadcaster.

Broad incumbents

• Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR): Major public broadcaster in Bavaria with extensive media education initiatives (BR alpha, Schulfernsehen). Comparable as a public-law broadcaster with educational programming mandate, though at much larger scale than OKSH's local focus.
• Radio Bremen: Smallest German public broadcaster serving Bremen and Bremerhaven. Comparable as a regional public broadcaster with statutory mission and media education programming, though OKSH's open-channel citizen model differs from Radio Bremen's professional editorial approach.
• NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk): Public broadcaster serving Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Comparable regional broadcaster operating TV/radio under public mandate, but at vastly larger scale and with professional editorial staff rather than citizen-produced content.
• Deutsche Welle: Germany's international public broadcaster with substantial media-development and media-literacy training programs worldwide. Comparable as a public-law broadcasting institution with media education mandate, though at global rather than regional scale.

Direct peers

• Freies Radio Kassel: Free community radio station in Hessen offering non-commercial, citizen-produced programming. Comparable to OKSH's radio operations (Lübeck FM, Kiel FM, Westküste FM) with a similar open-access mission and media-literacy training.
• Hamburg 1 / Offene Kanäle Hamburg: Community broadcasting in Hamburg operating under MA HSH oversight alongside OKSH. Directly comparable open-channel model with citizen-produced TV/radio and media education programming in a northern German urban market.
• Offener Kanal Berlin: Public-access community broadcaster serving Berlin under the same OK concept and statutory framework. Directly comparable: offers citizen TV/radio production, free workshops, and media education, funded as a public-law institution.

Regional players

• TIDE Radio Hamburg: Hamburg-based community radio offering open-access programming and FM broadcasting. Directly comparable to OKSH's Lübeck FM/Kiel FM concept but operating in a different metropolitan market under different funding arrangements.

Others

• Medienanstalt Hamburg / Schleswig-Holstein (MA HSH): State media authority that co-funds and regulates OKSH. Comparable as a media-policy and funding counterpart; not a direct competitor but a primary partner and principal financial relationship for OKSH.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ok_kiel
• Facebookfacebook.com/OK-Kiel
• Instagraminstagram.com/luebeck_fm/?hl=de
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/offener-kanal-schleswig-holstein

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Offener Kanal Schleswig-Holstein