Public TV Chatter

 Lot of chatter this week over the public TV scandal in Berlin, and how it's also exposing some issues at MDR and WDR.  

The chief problem I see....all of these issues should have been noted in the early stages and corrected as they developed.  ARD/ZDF....management-wise....did little to nothing.

So this is my list of ten things I'd do for a reform:

1.  I'd go to ARD and ZDF....telling them....you just need one single news group.  Pick either ARD or ZDF, and delete the other team.  

2.  On public TV chat forums....put the two networks (ARD/ZDF) at one table and just tell them.....a limit of five per week, and they can't use the same topics for the five.

3.  The board of governors overseeing the public TV empire?  Dump it entirely.  Go to seven individuals on a board and they should only serve the board mission for a period of six years.....then release them.  Mandate that at least one member must be an accountant or finance-expert.  

4.  Allow advertising for the 8 PM to 10 PM period on public TV.  I'm not saying 12 minutes per hour, but at least a 2-minute period every thirty minutes.

5.  Admit that at least three of the sub-networks are total failures, and dump them.

6.  Mandate that the nightly news (8 PM on ARD) can't have more than three minutes of political news.

7.  These Brennpoints (the emergency-added news pieces after the regular news)....need to be lessen in a dramatic way.  There shouldn't be more than one per week.  If you got some Brennpoint to get all hyped-up about....put it on the lesser networks.

8.  Stop paying fantastic sums of money for sports 'feed'.

9.  Make the executives of public TV grasp....you are not in competition with RTL or Pro-7 networks.  

10.  Accept the fact that within ten years....more than one-third of German society will not be watching any public TV at all, or listening to any public radio at all.