Abstract
During the last few years local commercial radio has been introduced in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). For reasons described below a non-commercial variety has so far had no real chance. However, one of the Länder, Northrhine-Westfalia, financed a comparative study on international experience with non-commercial local radio. By comparing fifteen Western countries some common patterns as well as national differences became apparent. Three types of non-commercial local radio were identified: an Anglo-Saxon type, growing out of a predominantly commercial environment; a Southern European type, born out of protest against a public monopoly; and a Northern European type, that is shaped to coexist with an ongoing monopoly. This article presents some of the results of the study.