Schnitzel Republic: Q-and-A: German Public TV

Sunday, March 29, 2026

Q-and-A: German Public TV

1. Monthly cost presently? 18.36 Euro a month....doesn't matter how many TVs or radios you have in the house.

2. Locations of Channel 1 (ARD) and Channel 2 (ZDF)? ARD - Hamburg. ZDF - Mainz.

3. Is there any real difference on news content? Personal opinion....if you watch both....it's about sixty-percent of the same stuff....told slightly different.

4. How many Germans watch ARD prime news (8 PM) on average? Around 9.5-million....out of 84-million residents.

5. Are there Germans who go out of their way NOT to watch ARD or ZDF? Curiously, this topic has been studied....around 5-to-5.5-million are dedicated to watch no programming whatsoever.

6. Does ARD or ZDF have an 'edge' over the other? Oddly....data suggests a 2-percent edge to more ZDF viewers....over ARD viewers. Reason? ZDF has a fair amount of soap-opera cop shows and mountain-doctor-clinic shows around 6 PM to 8:15 PM, and older viewers are more consumed to watch this.

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About the Collection of Essays

First, note that this is NOT a blog....it's a collection of essays similar in nature to what the Greek Plutarch attempted to write.

Second: NO, there will be no Facebook connection to the essay collection. Besides the negativity with FB, there is just too much potential in the future for censorship with FB.

Third, this log of essays is written by an American (not a German). If you are a German seeking commentary written by a German, on Germans....look elsewhere.

Fourth, I will offer wit and sarcasm on Germany, Germans, Germanology, German political figures, German TV, German beer, German food, German humor (or lack of), German habits, German weirdness, German news, German autos, German brilliance, German stupidity, German customs, German Nazis, German history, and German stubbornness.

Fifth (new), the essays are not about ethnic pathways to your grandfather or great-grandmother who was German. It relates present day Germans. If you are trying to get some understanding to your ancestor who packed up and left sixty years ago from the old 'homeland', then this blog is probably not for you.

I was one of those Americans who did over twenty years of military time....married a German....and eventually returned as a retiree.

I'm one of the few who stood under the German umbrella.....paid German taxes for some years.....German social security.....and felt the various pains like Germans.

So, this is my all-purpose commentary essay, designed for non-Germans mostly (and those Germans who accidentally discover it). I tend to put German culture into the spotlight of sarcasm, wit and humor. I'm simply pointing out the richness and craziness of life in Germany, which even some Germans can't understand.

The amusing thing is that I'm merely repeating the exercise that Mark Twain performed in 1880, when he published "A Tramp Abroad". Various comments were dished out on the Germans....which apparently did not trigger any wars, chaos, climate change, or ill feelings.

Final note: I generally only delete comments that are spam-related, or hype over pure Nationalist Socialist agendas. I generally won't support one-sided arguments/agendas. I also don't think accusations of racism or nationalism are generally proven, and can reflect poorly upon the person making the accusations.