WELT

The WELT wordmark, in use since 2018.

Welt (written as **WELT**, or **WeLT**; formerly **N24**), is a private German free-to-air TV broadcaster owned by WeltN24 GmbH.

## Channel description

Welt is a news channel, and its programming consists of news programs, documentaries, infotainment programs, and finance and lifestyle reports.

## Channel history

#### Pre-launch

In the late 1990s, the ProSieben Media Group attempted to take over news channel n-tv from its current owners, at the time Handelsblatt and CNN. However, due to the high price, the group abandoned its plans. Instead, their goal was now to make their own news channel. On December 31, 1998, the ProSieben Group bought the German news agency ddp, and soon announced the launch of its own news channel.

#### N24

In February 1999, the *N24 Gesellschaft für Nachrichten und Zeitgeschehen mbH* was founded, wholly owned by ProSieben. Its broadcasting license was applied for at the *Bayerischen Landeszentrale für neue Medien* (en: Bavarian State Center for New Media), and on January 24, 2000, at midday, N24 went on-air from Unterföhring. In most cable networks, the channel took over the former analogue frequencies of pay-TV provider Premiere.

N24 collaborated with Bloomberg Television for financial reports, and the channel also produced news for ProSieben and Kabel 1. Following the merger between the ProSieben Media Group and Sat.1 in the same year, the channel moved to Berlin in July 2001, and its news departments were combined with Sat.1's.

In 2002, the majority owner of ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG, KirchMedia, filed for bankruptcy. The company itself was not broke, but an extended search for a buyer had stirred uncertainty. Combined with the market crisis caused by the end of the dotcom bubble and 9/11, this forced ProSiebenSat.1 to cut costs, which also affected N24.

N24 started to increasingly rely on documentaries, replacing most of its newscasts with cheaper documentaries. Business and stock market reports were cut dramatically, and remaining reports were bought from CNBC Europe instead of being produced in-house; as a result, the reports featured CNBC's graphics.

From 2007, N24 strengthened their business coverage, introducing daily programs such as *Börse am Mittag* (en: Stock Market Noon) and *Börse am Abend* (en: Stock Market Evening). Der Aktionar TV became N24's new partner for stock market and business coverage.

In October 2008, the channel moved to Berlin, in Potsdamer Platz. The channel also started broadcasting in 16:9 in the same year. ProSiebenSat.1 spent €10 million in the new studios, utilizing five floors for a newsroom, control room and talk show areas. The move to the new studios also meant that the news programs of ProSiebenSat.1 were moved to Berlin.

On June 26, 2010, ProSiebenSat.1 sold all its shares in N24 to the newly founded N24 GmbH. The company continued to contract N24 to produce its news programs, which lasted until 2022. In 2013, the Axel Springer group announced that it would take over N24 and integrate it into the Welt group, creating WeltN24.

#### WELT

On July 7, 2015, it was announced that N24 would be gradually combined into the Welt brand. In 2016, N24 was rebranded to adapt the design of Welt. Axel Springer SE launched a rebranding campaign for the channel in early 2018, and from January 18, the channel was now known as Welt.

Welt moved to Axel Springer's new headquarters in April 2021, at Zimmerstrasse 50 in Berlin. The last broadcast from the Potsdamer Platz studios was on April 23, 2021.

Until 2022, the channel produced the news programs for ProSiebenSat.1's channels. However, from 2023, the channel will now be producing news and magazine programs for ServusTV.

## Services

#### Reception

Welt is available through terrestrial, cable, satellite, and IPTV. The channel also offers a livestream on its website.

Welt had broadcasted the German feed in Austria through satellite in 2014, as N24 Austria. However, in 2018, this was replaced by an Austrian feed of N24 Doku instead.

#### Teletext

The channel had teletext services during its time as N24, however it is unknown if the channel still offers teletext services.

## Programs

From December 2021, the channel's news programs were as follows:

* Die Welt am Morgen (6AM - 9AM)
* Die Welt am Mittag (12AM - 2PM)
* Die Welt am Abend (6PM - 8PM)
* Die Welt am Wochenende (weekends, in-between WELT Newsroom and Die Welt am Mittag)
* WELT Newsroom (9AM - 12AM, 2PM - 5PM on weekdays)

After the 8PM edition of Die Welt am Abend, the channel broadcasts documentaries for the rest of the night, until 6AM. A notable exception is on weekends, where most of the afternoon schedule consists of documentaries instead of WELT Newsroom. The channel also shows sport news and weather after some programs.