Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor

It was founded by the US occupational authorities after World War II in 1946 to provide the German population in and around Berlin with news and political reporting.

For the first months the programme could be distributed via telephone line only (as DIAS – Drahtfunk im amerikanischen Sektor),[1] until a first medium wave transmitter was installed in September.

Its importance was magnified during the Berlin Blockade in 1948-49, when it carried the message of Allied determination to resist Soviet intimidation.

Under the supervision of the United States Information Agency from 1965, the station was staffed almost entirely with German employees, who worked under a small American management team.

RIAS-TV, began broadcasting (as a part-time optout on the terrestrial frequency of SAT.1) from West Berlin in August 1988, which also acquired the German Educational Television Network in United States.

First location, former Reichspost telephone exchange on Winterfeldtstraße
Large, curved four-story building
Former IG Farben branch office on Kufsteiner Straße, RIAS broadcasting centre from 1948, now headquarters of Deutschlandradio Kultur
Stylized "RIAS" neon sign against black background
RIAS neon sign
Penetration of West German TV reception (grey) in East Germany for ARD (regional channels NDR , HR , BR and SFB ). Areas with no reception (black) were jokingly referred to as "Valley of the Clueless" (Tal der Ahnungslosen) while ARD was said to stand for " Außer Rügen und Dresden " (Except Rügen and Dresden).