corporations in 1959.

On 5 April 1969, the three broadcasters then covering southwest Germany - Saarländischer Rundfunk, Südwestfunk (SWF; Southwest Broadcasting), and Süddeutscher Rundfunk (SDR, South German Broadcasting) - initiated a joint third television channel, known as Südwest 3 or S3. The new channel operated on only three days a week at first, then expanded to four days in September 1969, and to the whole week in 1971. On 30 August