How are radio and television organised in Germany?

The so-called dual principle applies in Germany: fee-funded public service broadcasting has a legal coverage mandate, while private providers are funded for the most part via advertising and subscriptions.

Public service broadcasters are supposed to provide culture, education, information and advice, as well as entertainment.

The key public service broadcasters in Germany are ARD, which stands for Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (the Working Group of Public Broadcasters of the Federal Republic of Germany) with its nine regional broadcasters, ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen) and Deutschlandradio.

In all, there are 20 public service TV stations and more than 60 regional radio stations in Germany, plus hundreds of commercial radio and TV channels.

Funding is provided mainly via the licence fee, which is designed to ensure reliable financing that is independent of the state. Per household, regardless of the number of people it contains, a monthly fee of 18.36 euros is charged.

Deutsche Welle (DW) is Germany’s international public service broadcaster. It provides information in 32 languages and is intended among other things to foster cultural exchange. DW is financed from federal funds, i.e. not out of the licence fee.

Funded by the Federal Foreign Office among others, the German News Service is a project run by DW together with the German Press Agency (dpa). It provides news and reports on topics related to Germany for media and the general public in several languages (including Arabic, English, Spanish, Russian and French).

74 percent of the German population watch linear TV at least once a week.

45 percent use streaming services at least once a week.

78 percent of Germans listen to the radio at least once a week.

25 percent of Germans listen to a podcast at least once a week.