Union politicians want to merge ARD and ZDF. Of the “world“There is a paper that contains concrete merger plans of the public broadcasters. The commission of the SME and Economic Union (MIT), former executives of the broadcasters and media politicians from the CDU and CSU from the federal and state governments are involved in the reforms.
Possible merger: “Reform that equates to a revolution”
Next Friday, the MIT management level will then discuss how to proceed. The paper, which is described in the media report as “a reform that equates to a revolution”, serves as a template. The “Welt” quotes from it: “In the future there should only be one public broadcasting corporation. The previous stations are to merge under this roof. “
It is envisaged that the specialist editorial offices will be distributed across different locations throughout Germany – in order to “continue to do justice to the federal character of the previous broadcasters”.
The entertainment program is to be reduced to basic provision
ARD and ZDF would therefore become a large broadcaster. And many other changes are also planned. According to the media report, the aim of the reforms is to provide better information and education. The entertainment program, on the other hand, is to be reduced to a basic provision: “In addition to international reporting, special emphasis is placed on expanding regional expertise, more documentations and additional live broadcasts of politically, economically and socially relevant events.”
The basis for this decision is, among other things, that ARD and ZDF had not reported live on site for a long time during the storming of the US Capitol in Washington in January. Instead, the entertainment program had continued to air.
Sports reporting could increasingly become a matter for private broadcasters
According to the authors, sports reporting would also be affected by the shortening of entertainment. The paper says: “Live broadcasts of important sporting events must continue to be receivable on free TV. But that does not necessarily have to be done in public broadcasting “The following applies:” The new station should only offer what private providers cannot provide better and fully. “
The basis for this decision could be the accusation of private media publishers. They criticized the fact that the citizens’ contribution money was often used to produce content that was also produced by them.
Lower broadcasting fees planned
In terms of broadcasting fees, some things could also change: “The total fee income should decrease”, according to the documents. A fundamental review of all tasks and structures should take place every seven years. This then results in the financial requirements.
For executives, this could mean a lower income. It is planned that the remuneration will be adjusted to that in the public service in the future. The costs of every TV contribution would have to be transparent: “Each program format must also have a price tag.”
In the future, the supervision of the broadcasting corporation is to be “completely democratized”. A broadcasting parliament is envisaged as the sole supervisory body. In doing so, all those liable to pay contributions should both vote themselves and be put up for election.
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