Öffentlich-rechtlicher Rundfunk in der Krise

Abstract

The German system of public broadcasting has arrived at a crisis point: too many lightweight channels, too many soap operas and boulevard magazines, too little on culture and too much on celebrity. Wasted investments, product placements, misappropriation of funds and fraud led to public commotion over the German public broadcasting system, which is funded with more than 7 billion euros per year. Is German public broadcasting worth all this money? In view of these recent affairs, the debate on reforming public broadcasting in Germany has gained momentum; several ideas for reform are addressed in this article. © 2013 ZBW and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.