ARD (
Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland – "Consortium of public-law broadcasting institutions of the Federal Republic of Germany"), is a joint organization of
Germany's regional public-service broadcasters. It was founded in
West Germany in
1950 to represent the common interests of the new, de-centralized post-war
broadcasting services - in particular, the introduction of a joint television network.
Today ARD maintains and operates a national
television network, known since 1994 as
Das Erste ("The First"). This network began broadcasting in 1952 under the name of
Deutsches Fernsehen ("German Television"), becoming
Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen ("First German Television") with the introduction of a new corporate design on October 1, 1984. The name is an indication that it is regarded as the country's primary network, comparable to
BBC One. ARD's programming is transmitted directly to homes throughout Germany via its own extensive terrestrial transmitter network. ARD also produces a digital package of three free-to-air channels (EinsFestival, EinsPlus and EinsExtra) and participates in the production of cable/satellite channels
Phoenix (events, news, and documentaries),
KI.KA (children's programmes),
3sat (cultural/traditional programming), and
arte (Franco-German cultural programming).
ARD's constituent broadcasting institutions –
BR,
HR,
MDR,
NDR,
Radio Bremen,
RBB,
SR,
SWR, and
WDR (see
below for an explanation of the abbreviations), as well as international broadcaster
Deutsche Welle – operate 54 regional and local radio stations and networks, two nationwide radio channels, and seven regional TV networks, some of which split further during certain parts of the day.
History The winning
Allies of World War II were determined that German radio after the
war would not
broadcast the same
propaganda as the pre-war
Reichsrundfunk ('Imperial Broadcasting'). A
federal structure, the renunciation of state influence and the avoidance of economic dependence were to be the key of the radio and TV institutions under
public law (
öffentlich-rechtliche Rundfunk- und Fernsehanstalten, public broadcasting and TV organizations). In
1947 the
US military governor Lucius D. Clay declared diversity of
public opinion as the main aim of post-war
media policy. Individuals aligned with the post-war Allied forces in their respective sectors of Germany had a local influence on local regional broadcasters. NDR cites the influence of
Hugh Greene on the early years of their organization.
After the creation of individual broadcasting agencies for most German federal states, these principles were further consolidated by
Länder broadcasting laws, decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court (
Bundesverfassungsgericht), and state treaties between the Länder. ARD members are thus (at least nominally) free of government influence, and rely for only a small part of their income on
advertising (
1995: ten percent). They are financed mainly from
licence fees from radio and TV owners, the amount of which is determined in a complex political process. The proclaimed aim of the ARD corporations is not only to
inform and to
entertain, but also to encourage the integration of various parts of
society, and let
minorities have a say in the programming.
In the
1950s the ARD radio services became the major factor of the mass media system in West Germany. As early as
1952 the ARD radio stations had ten million listeners. However, the radio stations operated on a regional level, and it was only the development of a television umbrella that helped the ARD to establish itself nationwide. The broadcasting of a countrywide television service was the goal of the ARD from the outset, and the go-ahead for this was given at the end of 1952. The same year ARD was admitted as a full active member of the
European Broadcasting Union. In
1955 there was a split of the founding member
NWDR ("Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk", English: "North-West German Broadcasting") into today's NDR and WDR. The year before (1954), the smaller SFB was split off. The first daily
news feature, the
Tagesschau went on the air from
Hamburg in
1956. The eight o'clock announcement of the
Tagesschau newsreader:
"Hier ist das Erste Deutsche Fernsehen mit der Tagesschau" ("This is the first German television channel with the Daily Review") continues to be the ARD's trademark, currently attracting eight million viewers every day.
1960s-1980s After unification and the closure of the GDR television service, two new regional broadcasters were established in the East, becoming ARD members in
1992. These were originally the
Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR, English: "Central German Broadcasting"), and Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg (ORB, English: "East German Broadcasting Brandenburg"). The existing NDR service expanded into the north-east, where it also covers
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The ORB service has since merged with the former Sender Freies Berlin (SFB, English "Broadcaster Free Berlin") to become Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB, English: "Broadcasting Berlin-Brandenburg").
Another merger took place between two member organizations of the ARD in 1998. The former Süddeutscher Rundfunk (SDR, English: "Southern German Broadcasting") and Südwestfunk (SWF, English: "Southwest Radio") became
Südwestrundfunk (SWR, English: "Southwest Broadcasting") on
1 October 1998.
1990s ARD programming Today, ARD member stations usually regulate their own radio programming. Some ARD member stations usually collaborate for common radio services (an example being Nordwestradio, a culture-oriented radio station co-produced by Radio Bremen and NDR). Most ARD stations, however, will have at least a news-oriented radio station, a classical-music station, a youth-oriented station, and a cultural station. At night some stations will relay common night programming produced on a rota system by the ARD stations themselves. There are three common night programming services: Nachtexpress/Radiowecker (light music), Nachtkonzert (classical music), and Popnacht (pop music). Most services are on the
FM broadcast band, though some services are also available on
DAB.
A similar network intended for national coverage is called
DeutschlandRadio, however DeutschlandRadio is not an ARD member - instead DeutschlandRadio is controlled by both ARD and ZDF. DeutschlandRadio provides two radio services:
DeutschlandFunk (DLF), a news-oriented service, and
DeutschlandRadio Kultur, a music-oriented service.
ARD is probably best known to shortwave enthusiasts for member station
Deutsche Welle, which broadcasts its radio services mostly on shortwave radio, though DW broadcasts can also be picked up via satellite and the Internet.
Radio The main television channels of the ARD are the nationwide
Das Erste and seven regional channels operated by the different regional broadcasting institutions. These channels were available on the analogue terrestrial transmitters until the shutdown of the analogue transmitters started in 2003. Das Erste and the third programmes, like the radio stations, are principally funded via licence fees, with a very limited amount of on-air advertising.
Das Erste broadcasts nationwide 24 hours a day, although the schedule does include four and a half hours of joint programming with ZDF each weekday, in the form of the news programmes
Morgenmagazin (on air 5.30–9.00) and
Mittagsmagazin (13.00–14.00), which the two organizations take weekly turns to produce.
The regional members of ARD all, jointly or separately, operate their own regional channels, known collectively as
die Dritten ("the Third Programmes"). These are:
The schedules of these regional channels also include sub-regional opt-outs at certain times, in particular for local news.
ARD has started three additional channels as part of their
ARD Digital package:
ARD is also involved in several
joint venture channels:
The international broadcaster
Deutsche Welle also produces television services; however these services are mostly available via satellite.
Bayerisches Fernsehen from
Bayerischer Rundfunk HR-fernsehen from
Hessischer Rundfunk MDR Fernsehen from
Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk NDR Fernsehen from
Norddeutscher Rundfunk
- with the collaboration of Radio Bremen
RBB Fernsehen from Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg
SWR Fernsehen from Südwestrundfunk
- with the collaboration of Saarländischer Rundfunk
WDR Fernsehen from Westdeutscher Rundfunk.
EinsPlus
EinsExtra
EinsFestival
3sat, a cultural channel with ZDF, ORF and SRG
KI.KA, a children's channel with ZDF
Arte, a Franco-German cultural channel
Phoenix with ZDF Television
Over the history of broadcasting in Germany since World War II, there were other members of ARD, which are now defunct, through splits or mergers. These include Sender Freies Berlin (SFB; Transmitter Free Berlin) and Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg (ORB; East German Broadcasting Brandenburg) which merged to become RBB. There were also Süddeutscher Rundfunk (SDR, Southern German Broadcasting) and Südwestfunk (SWF, Southwest Broadcasting) which merged to become SWR. Until the 1950s, there was also Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR; Northwest German Broadcasting), which split into the present NDR and WDR.
ARD operates many correspondents' offices in foreign cities, only rivaled in numbers by CNN. ARD and its regional broadcasters are also represented on the World Wide Web.
ARD operates several other companies and institutions, sometimes jointly with ZDF: Degeto Film, a television rights trader and production company; the German National Broadcasting Archives (DRA), the Institute for Broadcasting Technology (IRT - Institut für Rundfunktechnik), responsible for research and development; the Fee Collection Center (GEZ), and others.
Current controversy
ARD: ARD Jahrbuch 2005. Hans-Bredow-Institut, 2005 ISBN 3-8329-1730-6 (Online Excerpts, in German)
Allegro
Romanze
Discography
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Adjacent counties
Kevin McKidd is married to Jane and has two children, Joseph and Iona, and lives in Los Angeles,California.
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