About four months ago in Germany....things were all set for the TV/Media monthly 'tax-free' to go up by 86 Euro-cents (to a total of 18.36 Euro).
There was a path for the fee to go through (the Bundestag, the public TV 'governors', and the sixteen German states).
Well....one state (Saxony-Anhalt) stood up in the past couple of days (via the CDU and AfD Party in majority) and said NO. Twelve other states said it was all fine with them.
The day for the flip? On paper, it still says 1 January 2021.
To be honest here, the public TV 'empire' actually wanted a bigger chunk of money per month (they were talking 19.24 Euro a month). That request was turned down flat, and they were encouraged to find cuts.
The essential problem here? The Basic Law/Constitution....says that there is to be state agreement (not a majority or super-majority, but absolute agreement....16 out of 16).
What seems to be driving this one state's feelings? They generally hint that ten years ago....it was laid out that ARD/ZDF and the radio folks....needed to reorganize and develop a downsized operation. For ten years....nothing has occurred. A decade wasted in their mind....so why bother raising the monthly fee?
Is this the only problem....one state? No, not exactly. Twelve states have passed this. Saxony-Anhalt basically says they will not cooperate. This leaves three states who haven't met to vote on this topic yet. The three? Mecklenburg, Lower Saxony, and the Pfalz. The odds that these three might side with Saxony-Anhalt? Well....this would take a serious twist or two and put the ARD/ZDF/public radio folks in a pickle.
The reorganization idea? There are probably over 300 ideas on the table.
German public opinion? It goes in various directions. From the 15-to-25 year old group....the vast majority will admit they watch less than an hour a month. My son (nearing 30) would admit he hasn't watched an hour of German public TV in sixteen years. I can probably find at least half-a-million Germans in the same category.
The necessity for two major news networks to exist between ARD and ZDF? Just another issue.
The necessity to bid on major sports contracts, with public TV money? Another issue.
I give plus points on the radio network, and the choice of music formats (HR3 is probably one of the best stations for background music that I've heard in fifty years). I also give plus points to the radio folks for traffic jam info and weather reports.
What may happen here? You might find three or four of these states sitting on the vote and making a deal....show a reorganizational plan and downsize the news teams by 50-percent, to happen over six to eight years....then we'll give you the 86-cent raise on the fee. The end result? Somewhere down the line....the fee drops by one-third.
The public TV guys disgruntled over this game? More or less. But Amazon streaming, along with Sky-TV and Netflix....are killing the market-share with 15-to-30 year old Germans. There are probably 100k German teenagers begging for their Christmas gift 'stash' to include a year's subscription to Disney online and Netflix.
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