Media and communication
Germany boasts a free and broadly representative media world. Over the past few years, digitisation has significantly changed the way people utilise the media.
Insight
Guaranteed freedom of the press
Overview
The media sector
Around 63 million people in Germany are online, and daily newspapers are increasing their digital reach, too. In terms of media usage, however, television and radio continue to play the biggest role.
1945
1945
After the end of Nazi rule, in Germany initially newspapers may only appear under Allied licence. In the US zone of occupation the first licence is awarded on 1 August 1945 to the Frankfurter Rundschau.
1950
1950
The six West German broadcasting houses agree in Bremen to join forces to form the “Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland,” or ARD broadcaster.
1984
1984
In Ludwigshafen the Programm-gesellschaft für Kabel- und Satellitenrundfunk, or PKS for short, starts broadcasting. This marks the birth of private TV channels in Germany.
1995
1995
The first German newspaper, namely the leftist/liberal taz, goes online only six years after the foundation of the World Wide Web. After its go-live, the membership of the digitaz community surges.
1997
1997
About 4.1 million German citizens over the age of 14 use the new online access channels at least occasionally. In 2014, the figure rises to around 55.6 million, or 79.1 percent of the over-14s in Germany.
2022
2022
Around 93% of people in Germany (78 million) are online, and 87% use social media (73 million). The average user has five accounts. There are 118 million mobile phones for 83.2 million people.
© Austin Distel/unsplash
Article 5
Freedom of opinion and freedom of the press are anchored in law in article 5 of the German Basic Law.
© Bundesregierung/Bergmann
440 correspondents
Journalists from 60 different countries work out of Berlin.
90 percent
63 million people in Germany – around 90 percent of the German-speaking population above 14 years old – use the Internet.
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38 million users
The number of people active on social media networks in Germany.
© Getty Images/Ulrich Baumgarten
330 newspapers
After China, India, Japan and the USA, Germany is the world’s fifth-biggest market for newspapers.
