TV Chatter

 There's an interesting update over at Focus this morning....talking about this paper presented by the CDU.  The basic idea?  Take both Channel One (ARD) and Channel Two (ZDF)....both public TV networks....and combine them into one single network.

The two today?  ARD is the original network coming out of the 1950s, and their charter to exist is actually written into the Constitution.  In the early 1960s, the CDU Party realized how enormous political power was being generated to sway the public and attempted to create ZDF as an alternate public network (to be based out of Mainz).  ARD took it to court, won the battle, and brought ZDF in as a network under the control and authority of ARD.  In simple terms....whatever the politicians had desired to accomplish....they failed miserably and made their issue twice the original size.

In the 1980s, as alternate commercial networks arrived....ARD attempted the same tactic...to challenge and hinder their establishment.  That miserably failed, and the commercial networks quickly established themselves through the 1980s/1990s.

This paper that the CDU has generated....the layout for the future of this one single network?  Well...the original core idea was that information and knowledge would be the driving force of ARD (they will openly admit this in the 1950s/1960s).  The paper generated suggests that all entertainment would be 'dumped'.  Yes, all those police-murder movies, the various soap-opera shows, etc. 

Sports to be affected?  The paper suggests that public TV only pick up sports events, if the commercial folks fail.

What all of this would lead to?  Lesser TV/radio taxes.  Currently, the amount is set to 17.50 Euro a month, per house.

A top ten subject for the election?  There are four basic issues here:

1.  ARD/ZDF were told by the sixteen states around five years ago to find ways to lessen the cost of production.  There's little seen of this effort.

2.  Most Germans from the ages of 15 to 30....don't use public TV or radio.  My son (30 years old) will tell you he hasn't watched a single hour of public TV in at least sixteen years.  He considers his mandatory 17.50 Euro a month to be a total waste.  

3.  If you count ARD, ZDF, Sat3, and the fifteen-odd sub-networks....it's a fairly large total operation.  But once you dive into the sub-networks....the viewership tends to drop in a serious way.  It's like bringing up the ARTE channel....in an entire year....I might watch four hours of their programming.

4.  The scripts/books chosen for movie projects?  You can divide them into roughly four categories, and they are mostly the material that Germans over the age of forty prefer to watch.  

What'll happen with this CDU effort?  Its anyone's guess.  If you bring this up in a bar or pub....probably half of the Germans are extremely open to lessening the tax and combining ARD/ZDF.  Getting the two networks into a room and openly discussing the new path ahead?  You'd have to admit that 50-percent of the manpower would disappear, and that won't be a pleasant experience.