Stream Check 2026
Four in ten German radio streams have no HTTPS
A radio stream can run perfectly and still stay silent on the station's own website. The cause is often in the address: http:// instead of https://.
- Of 995 German streams tested, 589 (59 %) are delivered over HTTPS. 406 (41 %) are not.
- In the Dutch list it is 664 of 776 (86 %). In 14 % HTTPS is missing.
- The federal states differ widely: in Schleswig-Holstein only 20 % of the streams tested run over HTTPS, in Rhineland-Palatinate 85 %.
- The figures come from my own samples and are not representative.
Why HTTPS matters for streams
A website served over HTTPS may not simply embed content that arrives over unencrypted HTTP. Browsers block it or try to switch the address to HTTPS. If there is no stream at the HTTPS address, the player stays silent. Almost all websites run on HTTPS today, so a stream without HTTPS often cannot be embedded on the station's own site at all.
For apps, HTTPS is the standard too. Apple generally requires encrypted connections for iPhone apps. Exceptions are possible, but costly. Anyone who wants to offer a stream in an app or a web player needs an HTTPS address in practice.
What I tested
The same streams as in the second stream check: 995 counted German and 776 Dutch streams, measured on 2 November 2026. A stream counts as delivered over HTTPS if the address from which it actually delivered audio, after all redirects, begins with https://. Whether a station also offers the same address over HTTPS, I did not test.
The results
| List | Streams | delivered over HTTPS |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 995 | 59 % |
| Netherlands | 776 | 86 % |
Germany by federal state
I list states with at least 30 streams. Percentages vary a lot in small samples.
| Federal state | Streams | without HTTPS | delivered over HTTPS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhineland-Palatinate | 40 | 6 | 85 % |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 40 | 9 | 78 % |
| Thuringia | 38 | 10 | 74 % |
| Saxony-Anhalt | 42 | 13 | 69 % |
| Bavaria | 39 | 12 | 69 % |
| Baden-Württemberg | 256 | 102 | 60 % |
| Berlin | 40 | 16 | 60 % |
| Lower Saxony | 114 | 47 | 59 % |
| Hamburg | 40 | 17 | 57 % |
| Saxony | 40 | 18 | 55 % |
| Saarland | 40 | 22 | 45 % |
| Hesse | 42 | 24 | 43 % |
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | 34 | 22 | 35 % |
| Schleswig-Holstein | 40 | 32 | 20 % |
By server identifier
The software that delivers the stream makes a difference too. For the six most common identifiers in the German list the share lies between 41 and 81 %. That suggests HTTPS is often a question of the provider's default setting rather than of the individual station. I do not name which software has which value, because the sample per identifier is small.
What stations can do
- Look at the address: Does your stream address begin with
http://? Then, as a test, replacehttp://withhttps://, keep the rest of the address the same, and check it in the next step. Some servers already answer on that address. If your address already begins withhttps://, this step is done. - Test with curl:
If the answer showscurl -sI https://STREAM-ADDRESS200and an audio content type such asaudio/mpeg, the HTTPS address works. - Ask your provider: Is there an HTTPS address with a valid certificate for my stream, and does it cost extra?
- Change the address in the player: Enter the HTTPS address in your web player or app and test on phone and computer.
The certificate has to match the address. With a certificate warning the browser drops the connection.
Limits of the measurement
- Snapshot from 2 November 2026. Streams can change.
- The selection is not representative. The German streams come from a user-maintained database. Baden-Württemberg is the best represented because of the first list. For each federal state up to 40 more, frequently listened to streams were added.
- The station lists partly contain older addresses. Some stations may now offer an HTTPS address that is not yet in the list. I did not check that.
- The Dutch list is, by its own account, no longer updated. Only streams that were running were counted: 776 of 1,253 addresses.
Free stream check for your station
I am happy to check your stream and send you a short report with concrete tips. It is free and commits you to nothing. Send me the stream address: kontakt@ondial.de
Who is writing this
I am Felix Wallerius and I am building Ondial, a web player for radio stations. I have a stake in the topic, so I took care to quote only figures that can be checked. Try Ondial
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