Kanal 21

Kanal 21 is a non-commercial media organisation based in Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It operates as a media project centre (MedienProjektZentrum) and is the successor to the city's open TV channel (Offener TV-Kanal Bielefeld). The organisation is rooted in the association Offener TV-Kanal Bielefeld e.V., founded on 29 October 1998, which aimed to create a visible broadcast platform for media-education projects linked to Filmhaus Bielefeld e.V. and Bielefelder Jugendring e.V., both of which cooperate closely with the University of Bielefeld. The association also operates under the name Verein für Medien und Bildung and promotes non-commercial TV and multimedia productions, with a focus on projects involving non-profit organisations across Ostwestfalen-Lippe. Kanal 21 began a licensed trial broadcast in June 2002 from a residential complex of the Bielefelder Gemeinnützige Wohnungsgesellschaft (BGW) in the Brodhagen quarter, reaching 264 households before the city-wide launch on 17 November 2005. As the broadcaster of the Offener TV-Kanal Bielefeld e.V., it held a broadcasting licence from the Landesanstalt für Medien Nordrhein-Westfalen (LfM) until 31 December 2009, when the legal form of open channels was removed from the NRW state media law. The channel was available in Bielefeld's analogue cable network on special channel 21 to around 90,000 households. On 29 June 2010, the Kanal 21 gemeinnützige GmbH was founded as an 80-percent subsidiary of the association, with further shareholders Aaron Scheer and managing director Dirk Rehlmeyer. Since 2025 the gGmbH has been a 100-percent subsidiary of the association, and since April 2026 it has been recognised by the LWL as an inclusion enterprise (Inklusionsbetrieb). The organisation offers a wide range of services, including event recordings, livestreaming and conferences, animation and compositing, project documentaries and image films, media culture projects, and technical and room rental. Since the end of its own broadcast licence, Kanal 21 has distributed its programmes through its own media library, social media, and the linear TV and on-demand media library of the state-wide educational channel NRWision, coordinated by the Faculty of Journalism at TU Dortmund. Its programmes are shown daily at varying times on NRWision, which is available to several million cable households, with a bundled slot on Tuesdays at 18:00 under "Ostwestfalen ab 6". The weekly Kanal 21 television concert has a fixed place in the "Musik" block on Fridays at 21:00. Kanal 21 also regularly uses live streaming via various internet platforms, having first streamed live online for EXPO 2000. Regular productions include "ALLES INKLUSIV" ("Nothing about us without us!" – by, for and with people with disabilities, funded by Aktion Mensch), the Fernsehkonzert (regular live concert recordings in its own studio with an audience), Backstage interviews with the bands, "Frage der Woche" (weekly vox pops in Bielefeld), and the magazine "Grenzenlos TV" for young adults. Kanal 21 trains media designers for image and sound (Mediengestalter Bild und Ton) and offers seminars in journalism, television technology and media, often in cooperation with the Bildungswerk Medien und Kommunikation Minden-Lübbecke and VHS Bielefeld. The supporting association is a member of the Bundesverband Bürgermedien (BVBM) and, since 2025, of the Deutscher Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband.

Kanal 21's history begins with the founding of the association Offener TV-Kanal Bielefeld on 29 October 1998. The goal was to create a visible broadcast platform for media-education projects in the environment of Filmhaus Bielefeld e.V. and Bielefelder Jugendring e.V., both of which cooperate intensively with the University of Bielefeld. The association, also known as Verein für Medien und Bildung, promotes non-commercial TV and multimedia productions, with a focus on productions with non-profit institutions from across Ostwestfalen-Lippe. It organises product-oriented media-education projects for schools, youth centres and universities in Ostwestfalen-Lippe, and advises and supports editorial groups and individuals. From June 2002, the licensed trial broadcast operation was realised for more than three years in a residential complex of the Bielefelder Gemeinnützige Wohnungsgesellschaft (BGW) in the Brodhagen quarter of Bielefeld. Through this, 264 households were reached before the city-wide broadcast launch on 17 November 2005. As the broadcaster of the Offener TV-Kanal Bielefeld e.V., Kanal 21 held a broadcasting licence from the Landesanstalt für Medien Nordrhein-Westfalen (LfM) until 31 December 2009. The open channel (OK) could be received in the analogue cable network of the city of Bielefeld for approximately 90,000 households on special channel 21. After the other open TV channels in North Rhine-Westphalia had already ceased broadcasting at the end of 2008, Kanal 21's broadcasting licence also expired on 31 December 2009, because the legal form of open channels was no longer provided for in the NRW state media law from that point on. Since then, Kanal 21 has distributed its programmes via its own media library and social media, and also in the linear TV programme and on-demand media library of the state-wide TV learning channel NRWision, coordinated by the Faculty of Journalism at TU Dortmund. The programmes of the Bielefeld citizens' television are shown daily at varying times on NRWision, which can be received by several million cable households. In bundled form, they appear every Tuesday from 18:00 in the slot "Ostwestfalen ab 6". Special thematic formats are additionally given prominent placement in NRWision's programme; for example, the weekly Kanal 21 television concert has a fixed place in the thematic block "Musik" (always Fridays from 21:00). On 29 June 2010, the Kanal 21 gemeinnützige GmbH was founded as an 80-percent subsidiary of the association, with further shareholders Aaron Scheer and managing director Dirk Rehlmeyer. Through the gGmbH, a wide variety of video productions and their distribution are realised as a service provider for various clients, especially from the non-profit sector. Since 2025, the Kanal 21 gemeinnützige GmbH has been a 100-percent subsidiary of the association, and since April 2026 it has been recognised by the LWL as an inclusion enterprise (Inklusionsbetrieb). Kanal 21 has also used live internet streaming since streaming live for EXPO 2000, and in recent years has regularly used the possibilities of live broadcasting via various internet distribution platforms. One example is the Big Brother Awards ceremony, for whose technical distribution the Kanal 21 gGmbH was responsible for several years on behalf of the organiser Digital Courage e.V. The supporting association is a member of the Bundesverband Bürgermedien (BVBM) and, since 2025, of the Deutscher Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband. Regular productions include "ALLES INKLUSIV" ("Nothing about us without us!" – by, for and with people with disabilities, funded by Aktion Mensch), the Fernsehkonzert (regular live concert recordings of national and international artists in the in-house studio with an audience), Backstage (interviews with the bands playing a Fernsehkonzert), Frage der Woche (weekly vox pops with Bielefeld residents on a current topic), and the magazine "Grenzenlos TV", in which young adults apply skills gained in workshops in front of and behind the camera, funded by "digital Dabei". Kanal 21 trains media designers for image and sound (Mediengestalter Bild und Ton) and offers Bielefeld citizens seminars in journalism, television technology and media, largely planned half a year in advance and offered in cooperation with the Bildungswerk Medien und Kommunikation Minden-Lübbecke and VHS Bielefeld, with other qualifications responding to short-term needs.

• 2026

  Recognised by the LWL as an inclusion enterprise (Inklusionsbetrieb).

• 2025

  Kanal 21 gemeinnützige GmbH becomes a 100-percent subsidiary of the association; association joins Deutscher Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband.

• 2010

  Kanal 21 gemeinnützige GmbH founded as an 80-percent subsidiary of the association.

• 2009

  Broadcasting licence from the LfM expires; distribution shifts to media library, social media and NRWision.

• 2005

  City-wide broadcast launch in Bielefeld.

• 2002

  Licensed trial broadcast begins in the Brodhagen quarter, reaching 264 households.

• 2000

  First live internet stream on the occasion of EXPO 2000.

• 1998

  Offener TV-Kanal Bielefeld e.V. founded.

Non-commercial, participatory and inclusive media project centre and former open TV channel, focused on media education, digital participation and community broadcasting.

• ALLES INKLUSIV

  "Nothing about us without us!" – by, for and with people with disabilities, funded by Aktion Mensch.

• Fernsehkonzert

  Regular live concert recordings of national and international artists in the in-house studio with an audience.

• Backstage

  Interviews with the bands playing a Fernsehkonzert.

• Frage der Woche

  Weekly vox pops with Bielefeld residents on a current topic.

• Grenzenlos TV

  Magazine in which young adults apply skills gained in workshops in front of and behind the camera, funded by "digital Dabei".

1. 1Kanal 21 | #MEDIENFÜRVIELEkanal-21.de
2. 2Kanal 21 – Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
3. 3Kanal 21 – Wikidatawikidata.org