Broadcasting reform: ARD radio stations to be reduced from 70 to 53

The heads of government of the federal states adopted the highly controversial state treaty on the reform of public broadcasting at the Minister Presidents' Conference in Leipzig on Friday. The group agreed to "make ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio more digital, leaner and more modern", announced the lead state government of Rhineland-Palatinate afterwards. The aim is also to strengthen citizens' acceptance of the fee-financed broadcasters. Alexander Schweitzer (SPD), Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate, who is also Chairman of the Broadcasting Commission of the federal states, emphasized: "Duplicate structures are to be dismantled under the motto: More quality instead of quantity." Diversity belongs in the program, not in the administration.

Specifically, the "Reform State Treaty" provides for the revisions to the original proposal: ARD's current 70 radio stations will be reduced to 53. "Digital offerings and special-interest channels are to be clustered and consolidated," explained Schweitzer. "Content will be retained. Playout channels will be reviewed; digital use often already outweighs linear use."

Details are to be decided by the directors as part of their program autonomy. Arte is to be further developed into a European cultural platform, reported the head of the Broadcasting Commission. "And it makes sense to integrate 3sat's cultural offerings into this in the future." However, the two channels will not be merged. Kika and the digital offering Funk will be retained.

There will be a cooperation between One and ZDFneo. The ZDF Television Council had previously complained that the planned restriction of the offer would "not do justice to the claim of offering a program for all social groups". The deletion of established channels would "make a mockery of the reform's goal of bringing about an improvement".

ARD and ZDF should be able to compete with Netflix

One of the priorities of the new Interstate Broadcasting Treaty is to create a joint digital platform for public broadcasters. ARD and ZDF have already been working on a joint media library for years. "In order to be able to compete with the large American and Chinese platforms, the public broadcasters should also cooperate more closely with the private media," it said from Mainz. Content from ARD and ZDF will also be available "on request" on private streaming portals such as Joyn or RTL+.

The topic of "press similarity" also caused a stir in advance. The draft provided for this: Only when ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio have reported on a topic in an audiovisual program would they also be allowed to write about it online. In this way, the Broadcasting Commission wanted to comply with the insistence of press publishers. The public broadcasters therefore warned against cutting back on text offerings on the Internet. As a compromise, the state premiers agreed on a "positive list". This should regulate what the broadcasters will be allowed to broadcast online in future, explained Mainz State Media Secretary Heike Raab (SPD). Real-time reporting for breaking news will continue to be permitted.

"System change" for fees is coming

The heads of government also approved a cap on expenditure for sports rights. They have not yet been able to agree on the increase in the broadcasting fee by 58 cents to 18.94 euros per month from January , as proposed by the KEF fee commission. Saxony-Anhalt and Bavaria in particular have repeatedly spoken out against implementing this recommendation. However, there is a constitutionally enshrined procedure behind this. Saxony-Anhalt therefore suffered a legal defeat before the Federal Constitutional Court in 2021, after the state had already once opposed an increase recommended by the KEF.

However, according to Rhineland-Palatinate, the presidents have agreed in principle on a "system change to a new financing model". This could consist of an automatic annual adjustment of the contribution, as has already been repeatedly discussed. The Broadcasting Commission is to examine legal issues and possible options and submit a proposal by the next Conference of Minister Presidents in December. The plans then have to pass through the state parliaments. If even one state parliament rejects the reform, the entire process will have failed. Otherwise, the new requirements could come into force and be implemented from summer 2025.

(nen)