Radio stations are licensed by media authorities in individual states, a result of Germany's federal structure.
The individual states have different rules and regulations related to licensing commercial radio stations.
Commercial radio stations, in most cases, try to cover the entire state they are licensed in, though some restrict themselves to metropolitan areas.
Fourteen new stations from a football programme, to rock, pop, classical, talk and Christian radio can now be heard across Germany and with the national multiplex being shared between both public and private broadcasters it is expected that the new stations on air will increase in number in the very near future.
[citation needed] The network operator, Media Broadcast, has 27 transmitters on-air in the first stage covering all major cities and autobahns, and plans for coverage of up to 99% in some areas are due by 2014.