 thumb|one of several color versions of the swr's current logo sÃ¼dwestrundfunk (swr, "southwest broadcasting") is a regional public broadcasting corporation serving the southwest of germany, specifically the federal states of baden-wÃ¼rttemberg and rhineland-palatinate. the corporation has main offices in three cities: stuttgart, baden-baden and mainz, with the director's office being in stuttgart. it is a part of the ard consortium. it broadcasts on two television channels and six radio channels, with its main television and radio office in baden-baden and regional offices in stuttgart and mainz. it is (after wdr) the second largest broadcasting organization in germany. swr, with a coverage of 55,600&nbsp;km2, and an audience reach estimated to be 14.7 million. swr employs 3,700 people in its various offices and facilities. ==history== swr was established in 1998 through the merger of sÃ¼ddeutscher rundfunk (sdr, southern german broadcasting), formerly headquartered in stuttgart, and sÃ¼dwestfunk (swf, south west radio), formerly headquartered in baden-baden. the existence of two public broadcasting corporations in southwest germany was a legacy of the allied occupation of germany after the second world war. the french military government established swf as the sole public broadcaster in their occupation zone. this area was later divided into the states of south baden, wÃ¼rttemberg-hohenzollern and rhineland-palatinate. the american military government established sdr in wÃ¼rttemberg-baden. when baden, wÃ¼rttemberg-hohenzollern and wÃ¼rttemberg-baden merged to form baden-wÃ¼rttemberg in 1952, the corporations were not merged, although sdr and swf operated several joint services. the two corporations had intended to merge in 1990, but the merger was pushed back by the reunification process. == finances == licensing fees required for radio and tv sets are â¬17.03 per month, as of 1 april 2005. for radio reception alone, the monthly fee is â¬5.52 these fees are not collected directly by the swr but by the gez that is a common organisation of ard, its members, zdf and deutschlandfunk. == studios and offices == thumb|headquarters in stuttgart thumb|swr buildings in baden-baden swr operates studios in the following cities: * in baden-wÃ¼rttemberg: baden-baden, stuttgart, freiburg im breisgau, heilbronn, karlsruhe, mannheim, tÃ¼bingen and ulm * in rhineland-palatinate: kaiserslautern, koblenz, mainz and trier regional offices of the swr are located in: *in baden-wÃ¼rttemberg: [[friedri
Baden-Baden German-language_television_networks German_television_networks Mainz Radio_stations_in_Germany Stuttgart Television_channels_and_stations_established_in_1998 Television_stations_in_Germany