Save on sports rights, merge foreign studios, restructure ARD? Politicians have agreed on the first points for reforming public broadcasters.
Two days in Bingen am Rhein to restructure the public broadcaster in Germany, which was founded in the post-war years and has continued to grow since then. That is not enough. Nevertheless, expectations have probably never been as high at any closed meeting of the state broadcasting commission as they were this Friday – a week after the Future Council presented its recommendations for the restructuring of public broadcasting. They are radical and comprehensive, for example calling for the creation of a new umbrella organization in the ARD, which should take action where coordination has so far been rather chaotic. Or a change in the procedure in which the broadcasting fee is determined.