The scandal around Patricia Schlesinger, former head of Berlin-based broadcaster RBB, has refocused attention on Germany’s complicated network of public broadcasters. Here’s how they’re organized.
It’s much worse than the pic shows. Canada seems bent on a similar set up.
But there are indeed a relatively large number of public broadcasters in Germany, including 21 TV channels and as many as 83 radio stations, funded mainly through the Rundfunkbeitrag levy (literally “broadcast contribution”). Currently set at €18.36 ($18.83) per month, each household in Germany is obliged to pay this fee, which brings in over €8 billion a year. While Deutsche Welle is also publicly funded, its budget comes directly from the federal government, rather than the Rundfunkbeitrag.
It’s an interesting read. Attempts to defund Germany’s media octopus have been dismissed as populist by “journalists.”
