Broadcasting fee: Commission recommends increase
KEF again recommends an increase in the broadcasting contribution, albeit more moderate than last time. States decide on the 28-cent rise.
The mail from the contribution service could soon become more expensive.
(Image: Jan von nebenan/Shutterstock.com)
The fee for public broadcasting could rise slightly from 2027. The Commission for Determining the Financial Needs of Broadcasting Institutions (KEF) recommends an increase of 28 cents from the current 18.36 euros to 18.64 euros in its 25th report, published on Friday. The decision on this lies with the federal states and their parliaments.
“The commission is thus reducing its previous recommendation to increase the monthly broadcasting contribution from 18.36 euros to 18.94 euros from January 1, 2025, from the 24th report by 30 cents,” explained KEF Chairman Martin Detzel at the handover of the report to the Chairman of the Broadcasting Commission of the Federal States, the Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate, Alexander Schweitzer.
Previous recommendation ignored
The increase to 18.94 euros proposed by the KEF last year did not find a majority among the federal states. The minister presidents finally agreed not to increase the broadcasting fee, but to leave it at 18.36 euros.
The public broadcasters ARD and ZDF have filed a constitutional complaint against this, which Karlsruhe has not yet ruled on. The constitutional complaint is directed against the fact that the federal states have not passed a resolution following the KEF. The procedure stipulates that the federal states should orient themselves towards the KEF's recommendations.
The KEF's responsibility is legally regulated. The broadcasters report their financial needs to the KEF. The commission then checks whether the needs are appropriate and calculated economically. On this basis, the KEF then makes a recommendation for the broadcasting contribution.
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“Contribution should rather decrease”
In its report, the KEF acknowledges a financial need of a total of 42 billion euros for ARD, ZDF, and Deutschlandradio for 2025 to 2028. Compared to the 38.504 billion euros for the years 2021 to 2024, this means an increase of 2.2 percent per year, according to the commission.
The digital association Bitkom criticizes the KEF's recommendation but emphasizes the important role of public broadcasting “in times of social division and increasing disinformation.” The contribution must tend to decrease, emphasizes Bitkom CEO Bernhard Rohleder: “The institutions must and can become significantly more efficient.”
(vbr)
