WDR Fernsehen is a German free-to-air television network owned and operated by Westdeutscher Rundfunk and serving North Rhine-Westphalia. It is one of the seven regional "third programmes" television stations that are offered within the federal ARD network. The station began broadcasting on 17 December 1965, as Westdeutsches Fernsehen (WDF), changing its name to West 3 in 1988, before settling for WDR Fernsehen in 1994.
Originally airing only in North Rhine-Westphalia, the channel has become available across Germany with the advent of cable and satellite television. The station is also available free-to-air across Europe via Astra 19.2°E.
In November 2013, the channel faced a graphical rebrand.
News sub-regions
WDR Fernsehen operates eleven sub-regional opt-out services, each broadcasting a 30-minute local news programme entitled Lokalzeit at 19.30 each Monday to Saturday evening together with a shorter, 5-minute bulletin at 18.00 on Mondays to Fridays:
Logo of the predecessor of WDR Fernsehen called West 3
Used until 2013
Alternative logo, 1994–2013
Used from 1994 until 2013
Used from 2013 until 2016
HD logo used from 2013 to 2016
Used from 2016
Used from 2016
HD logo used from 2016
