Fernsehen aus Berlin (FAB) GmbH
www.fab.de
info@fab.de

German TV First Channel/ARD
Mailkontakt@ard-hauptstadtstudio.de
www.das-erste.de
info@das-erste.de

Hamburg 1 GmbH
www.hamburg1.de
info@hamburg1.de

Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR)
www.mdr.de
kommunikation@mdr.de

Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg (ORB)
www.orb.de

Radio Bremen
www.radiobremen.de
rbonline@radiobremen.de

SAT
www.sat1.de
uscherservice@sat1.de

Sender Freies Berlin (SFB)
www.sfb.de

Südwest Rundfunk (SWR)
www.swr.de

TD 1GmbH
www.td1.de

TV Munich
www.tvm.de
contact@tvm.de

Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)
programmservice@zdf.de
www.zdf.de

Arte Deutschland TV GmbH
www.arte-tv.com
online@arte-tv.de

Bayerischer Fernsehen (BR)
www.br-online.de
info@br-online.de

Deutsche Welle (DW)
www.dw-world.de
heinz.pianka@dw-world.de

Kabel 1
www.kabel1.de
info@kabel1.de

Multithématiques GmbH
www.planet-tv.de
info@planet-tv.de

N-TV
www.n-tv.de
wfischer@n-tv.de

Pro 7 Media AG
www.prosieben.com
info@pro-sieben.com

RTL2 Fernsehen GmbH & Co KG
www.rtl2.de

RTL Television
www.rtl.de

Viva Fernsehen GmbH
www.viva.tv
info@viva-tv.de

Germany (population 82,100,000)

From eSCape tv's point of view, it is interesting that public channels need more youth-oriented product, and re: That Road in particular, the east shows a clear penchant for ARD-3, which transmits archive material on a regular basis.

9 out of 10 households receive transmissions via satellite and cable, and Pay-TV has consequently not yet taken off in Germany. Even Premiere World, which is also on offer in Austria, is in trouble. In April 2002, KirchMedia, the flagship for Leo Kirch's empire, went into administration following disastrous early experimentation with digital and Pay-TV.

History: The ARD (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Rundfunkanstalten Deutschlands) was set up in 1954. Proportionally, members' obligations differ in accordance with size (e.g. WDR carries 21.3% of programming). ARD's news broadcasts are from Hamburg.

Broadcasting is Länder-based, and global federal policy does not interfere on a local level. There are several explanations for the emergence of this peculiarly German framework; in the first instance, the Nazis were responsible for the creation of the first regular TV transmissions anywhere in the world. The state's use of television as an instrument of propaganda continued through the GDR years, and this explains why commercial TV is considered more trustworthy, politically.

1963 saw the advent of ZDF, based in Mainz. ARD-3 provided third channels, and ARD 1 now broadcasts programmes originating in different regions, and hence carries a disadvantageous territorial slant as far as eSCape tv is concerned.

Public broadcasters woke up somehow in the mid-80s, producing Kika for kids, Phoenix for documentaries, ARTE for the franco-German market and 3sat, with help from neighbouring Austria and Switzerland. In the private sector, news and sports coverage is particularly dynamic and innovative in Germany, and along with copious popular entertainment packages has helped enormously in consolidating an impressive market share.Today, every private broadcaster of non-specialist persuasion with more than 10% national market share is legally bound to allocate windows for the use of independent programme-makers.

ARD-3 is available to most households by satellite or cable, and most of Germany is covered by roughly ten-to-a-dozen public service channels. When the Wall came down, roughly 33% of households had cable, favouring private rather than public broadcasting. Deutsche Welle (DW-tv) is transmitted 24/7 in 3 languages, and it might be useful to suggest therefore that eSCape tv be screened concurrently, or with some décalage du temps if necessary, across this linguistic spectrum. In fact, in geolinguistic terms Germany has the second-largest European audience market share (Russia tops the table here). Viewers in neighbouring Austria and Switzerland are also remarkably fond of Germany's programming, which is also available terrestrially.

In 1997, a state broadcasting treaty revamped anti-monopoly legislation to cover audience market share rather than the number of channels owned, which was the last thing Kirch and Bertelsmann needed. Public broadcasting received its first serious challenge from RTL (originally transmitted from Luxembourg) and Sat-1, which was to start with satellite transmissions. Pro-7, Vox, RTL-2 and Kabel 1 followed, with Viva 1 and 2 (music), ntv, and N24 for news in close succession. There are now two principal Senderfamilien in Deutschland: Sat-1, Pro-7 and DSF are Kirsch group members, whilst RTL, RTL-2, Vox etc. are run by Bertelsmann. Viva and ntv, and a select few further channels still operate independently.

As far as advertising revenue is concerned, both the ARD and ZDF are permitted only twenty minutes of commercials per day, whereas private operators can allocate 20% of airtime to advertising per hour, with no guidelines in place to regulate breaks in programming.

Channel                    18:00-20:00  20:00-1:00

ARD-1                        13.3%             14.3%

ZDF                            16.2%             13.5%

ARD-3                        15.9%             14.4%

SAT-1                         10.6%             10%

RTL                             14.8%             15.7%

Pro-7                          6.1%               8.3%

Other                           23%                23.9%

Channel                    18:00-20:00; 20:00-1:00

ARD-1                        13.3%             14.3%

ZDF                            16.2%             13.5%

ARD-3                        15.9%             14.4%

SAT-1                         10.6%             10%

RTL                             14.8%             15.7%

Pro-7                          6.1%               8.3%

Other                           23%                23.9%