Media - Radio and TV - Goethe-Institut

Under the household fee system, form 2013 each household will pay a fixed amount. Photo: Talaj © iStockphoto

Household Fee – a German Media Policy Milestone?

From 2013, the Germans will no longer have to pay a television license fee, but instead will be charged a fee per household.More ...

World-class sporting events always generate massive interest among television viewers. Photo: Vladimir Kolobov © iStockphoto

The TV rights gamble: media politics and sport

When ZDF, a major TV broadcaster in Germany, decided to buy the rights to Champions League football starting in 2012, it created a stir when astronomical sums reaching EUR 150 million for the deal began circulating.More ...

Volker Herres; Photo: Herby Sachs; © ARD

“Ratings, yes – but not at any price” – An Interview with Program Director Volker Herres

The broadcasting sovereignty of Germany’s public TV stations, financed predominantly by licence fees, has been passé for quite some time now.More ...

Lena at the Eurovision Song Contest; © NDR/Rolf Klatt

“Twelve Points” for ARD and ProSieben: Media Phenomenon Lena

May 2010: Lena Meyer-Landrut wins the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. The success story of an unusual collaboration between the private TV channel ProSieben and the public broadcaster ARD.More ...

Excerpt from Aktuelle Kamera of November 10, 1989; © DRA/Screenshot

How the GRD Saw the “Wende”: Documents of East German Television in the Internet

Punctually on the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall the German Broadcasting Archive is presenting documentation from 1989 and 1990 from East German television in the Internet. Chronicles, thematic dossiers, photographs, audio samples and videos impressively reflect the view of GRD television on the revolution that was taking place in its own country.More ...

The Enemy Is Listening: Western Media and the GDR Secret Police

The East German Ministry of State Security systematically observed West German radio and television and sought to influence them. This may be seen from a remarkable study commissioned by the Consortium of Public-Law Broadcasting Institutions of the Federal Republic of Germany (ARD). In 2008, the report was presented to the public.More ...

Commerce vs. Public Service? European Television is not Making any Headway

The European Union Commission decided in 1989 to create one „common European audiovisual region“ (Directive „Television without Frontiers“). Yet European television is still national television. Only the TV station “Euronews” can claim to broadcast a truly European centred programme.More ...

Child watching television; Copyright: Colourbox

Recommendation, not Censorship - the Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft – FSK (Voluntary Self Regulation of the Movie Industry)

Every film shown in public in Germany is approved and then given a rating by the FSK - Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft (Voluntary Self Regulation of the Movie Industry). These ratings have on occasion been quite controversial.More ...

Children and youth between the ages of three and 13 watch an average of 1.5 hours of TV per day. Photo: pressmaster © 123RF

A mouse on two legs – quality in German children's television

For over 40 years now, that little orange rodent has been scurrying across German TV screens. “The Program with the Mouse” is still the inimitable icon of children's television in Germany.More ...

“If you want to preach, you can pack it in.” – An Interview with Philipp Walulis

In March 2012 the journalist Philipp Walulis was awarded the prestigious Grimme Prize for his media-critical satirical show Walulis sieht fern (Walulis Watches TV).More ...

“Lesch’s Cosmos” – The Infinite Vastness of Science

When Harald Lesch stands before the camera, even the most complicated subjects become intelligible to everyone.More ...

“Quarks & Co.” – From Idea to TV Show

If by the end her mother has understood all the different sections of the programme, Monika Grebe knows she has done a good job.More ...

There seems to be a real flood of talk shows. Photo: dandanian © iStockphoto

Just entertainment? Political talk shows on German TV

Political talk shows are all over ARD and ZDF in the late evening. Does the wide variety of talk shows degrade the quality of the format?More ...

What brought about the system’s collapse – glasnost, Western pop culture, or even alcoholism? Photo: © Gebrüder Beetz und Artline Films

“Farewell Comrades!” – A Television Series Sheds Light on the Collapse of Communism

The Soviet Union came to an end 20 years ago. What brought about the system’s sudden collapse? “Farewell Comrades!” traces the extraordinary stories of ordinary people.More ...

Hand with teleguidance, shadow with gun; © fotolia

Murder on the Box – German TV Crime Series

Every day, on German television, murders are being committed, investigations are being conducted and criminals are being brought to justice.More ...

Political Media Watchdog – 50 Years of “Panorama”

At the dawn of the sixties, television in Germany was about entertainment more than anything else. That all changed on 4 June 1961 – when broadcaster ARD launched Panorama.More ...

“Mirroring Germany”. Hans W. Geißendörfer on 25 Years of “Lindenstraße”

For fans at home and abroad, it is a cherished institution: Lindenstraße, Germany’s oldest and probably best-known television series, turns 25 in December.More ...

The Murder on Sunday: 40 Years of Scene of the Crime

On November 29, 1970, with “Taxi to Leipzig”, began the murderous career Germany’s most popular television crime series “Tatort” (i.e. Scene of the Crime). It has always had not only crime, but also German society in its sights.More ...

Sebastian Oehlschlegel; © Filiale01/Annett Marie Fröschl

Seeing into the Distance: Sebastian Oelschlegel on Format Development in TV

Who decides the television format of tomorrow? Format developer Sebastian Oelschlegel talks about sources of inspiration, cost pressure and the future of television.More ...

The Casting Show: A Contemporary Phenomenon

Casting shows are all the rage in Germany. Media experts explain why TV formats like “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” (the German equivalent of the British show Pop Idol) and “Germany’s Next Topmodel” are so popular, especially among young people.More ...

Scene from Krimi.de Hamburg: “Finder’s Reward”; © MDR/NDR/Romano Ruhnau

Detective Work Instead of Homework: TV Thrillers for Children

In the television series Krimi.de, young detectives carry on investigations in four German cities: all without a special police unit and staff cars, but with courage and good ideas.More ...

The Truth And Nothing But The Truth – The German Documentary Film Has An Audience, But No Budget

Successful documentary films these days are no longer a one off. Some Productions attract audiences in their millions.More ...

Cover detail of “Die Geschichte der Talkshow in Deutschland”; © Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag

“A Broad Range of Talk Shows Is What’s Needed”: An Interview with Harald Keller

Talk shows should help form opinion, they should be spontaneous and disrespectful. So thinks Harald Keller, who has written a book about the history of the German talk show.More ...

A Reluctant Figure of Integration: “Tatort”-Inspector Mehmet Kurtulus

The media has greeted the debut of Mehmet Kurtulus as the new Hamburg police inspector in the popular television series “Tatort” with a resounding echo. Because of his immigrant background, many people want to make him into a figurehead for integration. But Kurtulus wants to be only an actor.More ...

Das Team vom KDD - Kriminaldauerdienst: (v.l.n.r.) Barnaby Metschurat als Leo Falckenstein, Billey Demirtas als Mehmet Kilic, Saskia Vester als Kristin Bender, Melika Foroutan als Sylvia Henke, Manfred Zapatka als Jan Haroska, Devid Striesow als Keitel und Jördis Triebel als Maria Hernandez; Copyright: ZDF/Volker Roloff

KDD – Kriminaldauerdienst – New Detective Format on ZDF

An award-winning new TV detective format doesn’t offer the viewer artificial heroes working for the police, but normal people doing a tough job. Following two successful series, a third is in preparation.More ...

Team Türkisch für Anfänger; Copyright: WDR

Television is Rediscovering Foreigners

Türkisch für Anfänger (i. e. Turkish for beginners, on the first German television channel (das Erste) ), Die Özdags (i. e. The Özdags, on WDR), Alle lieben Jimmy (i. e. Everybody loves Jimmy, on RTL) – slowly but perceptibly the type of people who appear on German television are changing. Immigrants are no longer only the subject of news programmes; they are now moving onto centre stage in television productions as protagonists.More ...

Karsten Schwanke, Moderator: Abenteuer Wissen; Copyright: ZDF; Fotografin: Kerstin Bänsch

Masses of Broadcasting Time and Channels – Science on German TV

German TV makes great use of science to attract the attention of young and adult viewers. Without the public TV channels, however, it would be almost impossible to offer such a wide variety of science programmes.More ...

dctp-nachtclub Peter Berling; Copyright: dctp

dctp: The Brand for Culture on Commercial TV

If you flip back and forth through the commercial channels on German television and happen upon any high-quality educational or cultural broadcasts, you're bound to see the anagram dctp in the closing credits. These programmes seem out of place in the glut of light infotainment and entertainment in which they're embedded. And the fact is: they are.More ...

Turkish for Beginners

It is rare indeed that Germany's newspapers agree on the merits of a TV production. The response to Türkisch für Anfänger (Turkish for beginners) - launched on March 14 - was positively euphoric, despite it being a pre-prime time serial aired by public broadcasting station ARD, of all things.More ...

Culture has aspekte – Germany television's oldest arts programme is 40 years old

On 17 October 1965 a novelty appeared on German television screens: the first Kulturbericht (arts review) was introduced to the spartan German television landscape. The programme, soon thereafter renamed aspekte, would accompany cultural developments in Germany for 40 years. Today the programme, which is broadcast on Zweiten Deutschen Fernsehen, or ZDF, is like an institution.More ...

Far from Mass Taste – the cultural channel ARTE

Since its launch in the early 1990s, the public service channel ARTE has developed a full cross-media programme that knows no cultural borders.More ...

ZDF.Kultur: traditional features and modern pop culture. Photo: Bettina Kasten © ZDF

ZDF.Kultur: Digital Channel Aims to Combine Features and Pop Culture

Since digital television was introduced, public service broadcasters have been experimenting with special-interest channels.More ...

Birth of commercial television: presenter Rainer Holbe ’delivers’ RTL Plus; © RTL

Entertainment Laid Bare: 25 Years of Commercial TV in Germany

For a quarter of a century now, commercial TV channels in Germany have been providing colourful entertainment, taking care to break with taboos and devising innovative new shows. Their launch heralded a dramatic change to the German television scene.More ...

Die TV-Falle. Vom Sendungsbewusstsein zum Fernsehgeschäft, Roger Schawinski; Verlag: Kein u. Aber; ISBN-10: 3036955054; ISBN-13: 978-3036955056, (September 2007); Copyright: Kein u. Aber Verlag, 2007

The Television Industry and Viewing Preferences

Commercialisation, ratings pressure, poor programmes and shared responsibility for the growth in violence among young people – the accusations levelled at private television channels are widespread. What is the truth behind the criticism?More ...

Cultural Oasis with Depth – 3sat, the Television Channel

3sat is the oldest speciality channel on public-service television. Its programming is jointly organised by four German-language channels whose headquarters are in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Culture and knowledge as well as science and education form the backbone of the selection of programmes.More ...

Television for the Discerning Viewer – the European Culture Channel ARTE

ARTE is a public-service specialist channel addressed to a television audience in Europe, especially in Germany and France. This 'baby' of Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand is – in contrast to 3sat and Phoenix – committed to the concept of culture in a broader sense.More ...

Regie im PHOENIX Sendezentrum Bonn; © PHOENIX/Magunia

Cult Channel for Responsible Citizens – The Bonn-based Television Channel Phoenix

Phoenix is the latest specialist channel on German public television. In contrast to 3sat and ARTE, the "ARD and ZDF event and documentation channel" is devoted primarily to political reporting and to providing background information from Germany and Europe.More ...

“Tonic Train” Performance with Sarah Washington und Knut Aufermann in Copenhagen 2011. Photo: mobile-radio.net

Mobile Radio: Out of the Studio

Sarah Washington and Knut Aufermann refuse to be confined within the walls of a studio: since 2005, they, Mobile Radio and their radio art have been on the move across the whole of Europe.More ...

End of 2009: start of the Web radio station detektor.fm; one of the first guests in its studio was former federal minister Wolfgang Tiefensee; © detektor.fm

A Lot of Enthusiasm, Little Money: Internet Radios Stations

There are now about 2700 Internet radio stations in Germany: in 2006 there were only 450. Although this kind of radio is listened to more and more, it is still difficult to earn money with it.More ...

Workout for the Brain: The New Radio Station DRadio Wissen

In January 2010, a new radio station called DRadio Wissen was launched. The central focus of its programming is to communicate knowledge. DRadio Wissen is one of the three channels operated by Deutschlandradio.More ...

The Radio Multicult 2.0 studio below deck on the ship 'Heiterkeit' with Wolfgang König at the microphone; Coypright: Uli Peschewoschny

The Air is Getting Thin: Radio Culture in Germany

At the end of 2008, two extraordinary German radio programme formats that were successful for many years, Radio Multikulti and “Der Ball ist rund”, were abolished. Is the current trend to go mainstream?More ...

The Tatort Radio Series: Audio Thrillers

With a series of radio plays modelled on the legendary TV crime series Tatort, German radio has been regaining its stride – and reclaiming its share of the limelight – since January 2008.More ...

Erlebnis Zuhören: Eine Schlüsselkompetenz wieder entdecken, neue Funkkolleg des Hessischen Rundfunks 2006/2007; Verlag: Vandenhoeck u. Ruprecht, Juli 2007; ISBN-10: 3525480075, ISBN-13: 978-3525480076

The New Joy of Listening – Germany’s Funkkolleg Radio University from 1966 to Today

"Education as a civil right" was the motto that spawned an idea back in the 1960’s to set up a university on the radio – an idea that went on to celebrate great success for three decades.More ...

ARD and ZDF have been hard at work reviving the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. Photo: lightwise © 123RF

The fairy tale world of the public television stations

Fairy tales inspire dreams and desires, and let adults be children again. It is no wonder, then, that the classic household tales from the Brothers Grimm have lost none of their magic and new film adaptations are now being made.More ...

In Germany watching “Tatort” is a kind of civic duty. Photo: © Repro WDR

“Tatort” – A German Television Institution

In Germany, “Tatort” is an institution. Nearly every Sunday evening at a quarter past eight, as many as 10 million viewers watch the latest detective film, and even Germans living abroad have no desire to give up this custom.More ...

Nearly half of the Germans have a great interest in foreign news. Photo: Alexander Podshivalov

How Globally Aware Are the Germans? – Foreign news on television

Which countries and regions are viewers interested in? A major international research project focussed on these question.More ...

There is a wide range of opportunities to speak into a microphone, or to film or be filmed. Photo: Mel Hofmeier © ARD ZDF Medienakademie

Training Station Broadcasts in Germany: At the Microphone, Everyone is Equal

Even for beginners, there is a wide range of opportunities to speak into a microphone, or to film or be filmed.More ...

The revolution in the living rooms of the 1950s – more and more families bought a television; Foto: Public Domain

Towards Better Children’s Television – The Prix Jeunesse International

The Prix Jeunesse is the highest honour that can be bestowed on children’s television productions.More ...

Illustration by Mathias Weber based on motifs by F.J. Tripp from `Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver` by Michael Ende, published by Thienemann Verlag; © Thienemann Verlag

All the Best, Jim Button! The “fine little chap” turns 50

The two of them have made Michael Ende famous and brought an island with two mountains into the nurseries of many lands. Jim Knopf and his pal Lucas the Engine Driver are celebrating their fiftieth birthday.More ...

The East-West German Dream Man: The Sandman’s 50th Anniversary

Every evening the Sandman is there when children prepare for bed. He is also a prime example of East-West German media history. He was first seen on East German television on November 22, 1959.More ...

Experimental Kit for Public TV: The INPUT Conference

Innovative formats, the courage to broach unusual themes and pleasure in exploring terrain new to television again and again: the annual international INPUT conference shows and discusses over 80 TV productions that have led the way in public-sector broadcasting. In 2009, INPUT was invited to Warsaw.More ...

Adolf Grimme Prize: Barometer of Quality Television

Among the numerous television prizes awarded in Germany, the Adolf Grimme Prize has occupied a special position since 1964. Whereas other awards are associated with glamour and money, this prize, conferred annually in the city of Marl, is concerned with quality TV in Germany.More ...

Loriot poster, Layout: 2008 Pentagram Design, Berlin; Copyright: Museum für Film und Fernsehen

An Anarchist in Pinstripes - Homage to Loriot’s 85th Birthday

Since half a century, Vicco von Bülow has been influencing with his humour everyday life as well as cultural life in Germany like no other before. On the occasion of his 85th birthday on November 12th, 2008, homage was paid to the artist at the Berlin Museum for Film and Television on Potsdamer Platz.More ...

Germany's First TV Museum - A forum for the past, present and future

German TV has now got its own museum in Berlin. Starting in June 2006 visitors will be able to retrace the development of German TV, reliving both its highlights and its experiments.More ...

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