From YouTube to Radio: How Bayerischer Rundfunk and BR3 Cracked the Code with Young Audiences

Attracting younger listeners is one of the biggest challenges facing radio today – and in this session at Radiodays Europe, Bayerischer Rundfunk shares a rare success story that’s already delivering results. While many broadcasters are still searching for answers, Frizz Lauterbach (Chief Digital Editor BR1 & BR3) and Julia Nageler (Host – YouTube/Podcast, BR3/ARD) may have found a formula that truly works.

This session explores how a popular YouTube series was successfully adapted for BR3, a 360° radio brand, without losing the tone, energy, or audience that made it a hit in the first place. Instead of forcing young audiences to change their habits, BR3 met them where they already were – and then brought that connection to all touchpoints: on air, off air, and online.

You’ll hear how the team translated visual-first storytelling into compelling content, preserved authenticity, and built a bridge between platforms that feels natural, rather than promotional. The session offers practical insight into cross-platform thinking, audience-first content, and what it really takes to make radio relevant for a new generation.

If you’re looking for proven ideas – not theory – on how to engage younger listeners and rethink radio’s relationship with digital platforms, this is a session you won’t want to miss at Radiodays Europe.

📷Photo by George Dera on Unsplash