

"das Zweite" ("The Second"), which started 1963, as a separate public TV-broadcaster.
TAGESSCHAU MEDIATHEK TV
The fees are not collected directly by the ARD, but by the Beitragsservice (formerly known as Gebühreneinzugszentrale GEZ), a common organisation of the ARD member broadcasters, the second public TV broadcaster ZDF, and Deutschlandradio.ĪRD maintains and operates a national television network, called Das Erste ("The First") to differentiate it from ZDF, a.k.a. Households living on welfare are exempt from the fee. For an ordinary household the fee is currently €18.36 per month. The budget comes primarily from a licence fee which every household, company and public institution are required by law to pay. The ARD has a budget of €6.9 billion, 22,612 employees and is the largest public broadcaster network in the world. It was founded in 1950 in West Germany to represent the common interests of the new, decentralised, post-war broadcasting services – in particular the introduction of a joint television network. ARD-Hauptstadtstudio (ARD Capital Studio) in BerlinĪRD is a joint organisation of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters.
