Competition and State-run TV

Today....roughly forty-eight hours after the big Wetten Dass accident.....news analysts in Germany are taking a long look at this competition angle of German state-run TV.  Both ZDF and ARD management will say....even before the televised accident...that they have to be out front and competing against commercial TV networks.

I went through several German newspapers, and most offer the most updated info on Samuel Koch.  They also take up some lines and discuss the competition angle.  The major newspapers have a slightly negative view of how competition runs the network and challenge the notion that this is acceptable.

I was a regular viewer of both state-run channels from 1993 to 2009.  It often surprised me to the extent that state-run TV went to compete.  When it came down to buying rights to major sports events, the state-run management team were willing to spend freely and had no problem in paying significant sums of money to be the kingpin of various programing.  This is true over the Tour de France coverage, major soccer coverage, and even racing.  Toss in the Olympics as well.

Families tend to pay around 300 to 400 Euro a year (depending on what you want to admit to in your house), and that goes to this fund where state-run TV splits amongst the two big boys (ARD and ZDF), and then minor cousins (around 18 minor channels) and the new digital empire.

In the past couple of years, different segments of German society have challenged this entire concept of state-run TV because viewership is not at the levels of 1975 any longer.  If you went to the younger crowd of 18-30....most Germans would insist on curtailing the network's ability to tax on consumers.  If you only watch four hours of state-run TV a week.....it's hard to relate to your portion of tax given to the "mafia" (a title that a German used in a conversation with me over state-run TV).  

If you gaze over at the top ten shows of each week....ZDF and ARD typically own six or seven of those shows.  When they find the right formula....they tend to stick with it and keep the series in full swing.  They know that a major Sunday Formula One race will get them a top-ten slot.  They know that a major game between two soccer contenders will get them a top-ten slot.  They know that Tour-de-France daily race will get them a top ten slot.  So it entices them to pay whatever is required to own that property for the evening.

In the end, this accident on Wetten Dass doesn't settle much, but it simply tosses another log on the fire of state-run TV's issues.  They've been competing for three decades since commercial TV became a reality in Germany (actually it had to start in Luxembourg because the licensing wall that the German government put up because the big boys didn't want competition).  Normally, I'd say competition makes something better.  In this case, it's a question whether they are any better for all the money and effort taken.