After the BBC, Westdeutscher Rundfunk is the largest radio station in Europe. From the 1950s, it was considered a success of the British military regime, which wanted to install an independent radio broadcaster. However, this failed due to a political alliance between the NRW government, parties, churches, and lobbies. The independent Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk became a broadcaster whose program the NRW government had influence over for decades.