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The first regular electronic television service in Germany began in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
on March 22, 1935, as Deutscher Fernseh Rundfunk. Broadcasting from the
Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow The Fernsehsender "Paul Nipkow" (''TV Station Paul Nipkow'') in Berlin, Germany, was the first public television station in the world. Carrying programming from Deutscher Fernseh-Rundfunk, it was on the air from 22 March 1935, until it was shut ...
, it used a 180-line system, and was on air for 90 minutes, three times a week. Very few receivers were ever privately owned, and viewers went instead to (television parlors). During the 1936 Summer Olympics, broadcasts, up to eight hours a day, took place in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
and
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
. The
Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...
intended to use television as a medium for their propaganda once the number of
television set A television set or television receiver, more commonly called the television, TV, TV set, telly, tele, or tube, is a device that combines a tuner, display, and loudspeakers, for the purpose of viewing and hearing television broadcasts, or using ...
s was increased, but television was able initially to reach only a small number of viewers, in contrast to
radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
. Despite many technical improvements to camera technology, allowing for higher resolution imaging, by 1939, and the start of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, plans for an expansion of television programming were soon changed in favor of radio. The production of the TV receiver E1, that had just started was cancelled because of the war. Nevertheless, the Berlin station, along with one in occupied Paris (Fernsehsender Paris), remained on the air for most of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. A special magazine called ''Fernsehen und Tonfilm'' (i.e. ''Television and Sound film'') was published. In 1941 Kurt Wagenführ established the "''Institute for Broadcasting Studies and Television''" ("Institut für Rundfunkkunde und Fernsehrundfunk") at the
University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...
with support from the
Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda The Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (; RMVP), also known simply as the Ministry of Propaganda (), controlled the content of the press, literature, visual arts, film, theater, music and radio in Nazi Germany. The ministry ...
.


1950s

After
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, it took several years to resume television transmissions. Immediately after the war, newspapers and radio were the only available mass media and they were under direct control of the Allied government, and were more likely to be in English or French than in German. In the West, the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
had founded the ARD, the ''Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten Deutschlands'' (''Cooperative association of the public broadcasters in Germany''). In the East, the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
founded its own radio and later TV stations, known as ''
Deutscher Fernsehfunk Deutscher Fernsehfunk (DFF; German for "German Television Broadcasting") was the state television broadcaster in the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) from 1952 to 1991. DFF produced free-to-air terrestrial television programmin ...
'' (DFF). Many parts of Germany (particularly the GDR) received programming from both services. The common aim of the Western Allies was to prevent the future abuse of broadcasting by the German government. Thus, the different regional networks were placed under the control of the '' West German Länder'' governments. Even so, these services tended to reflect the broadcast practices of the occupying Allies. Thus,
NWDR Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR; ''Northwest German Broadcasting'') was the organization responsible for public broadcasting in the German Länder of Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia from 22 September 1945 to ...
, set up in the British occupation zone, reflected the attitudes of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
; the four services set up in the American zone ( BR, HR, SDR and
Radio Bremen Radio Bremen (RB), Germany's smallest public radio and television broadcaster, is the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (which includes Bremerhaven). With its headquarters sited in Bremen, Radio Brem ...
) adopted American-style practices from the
Armed Forces Network The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which in ...
; and Südwestfunk, in the French zone, tended to be more French than German in its practices. In 1948 the British occupation forces authorized
NWDR Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR; ''Northwest German Broadcasting'') was the organization responsible for public broadcasting in the German Länder of Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia from 22 September 1945 to ...
to make plans to broadcast television programs for the British zone, with the first signals sent on July 12, 1950. James A. Coleman and Brigitte Rollet, ''Television in Europe'' (Intellect Books, 1997) p49 A general test phase started on September 25, 1950. This initial service lasted two hours a night (transmitting 8-10 p.m.) and included news, variety shows, films, and television plays. In 1951 additional programs for women and children were added in the afternoon. Daily broadcasts began on Christmas Day of 1952. Other regional networks also started to launch television in their own areas; HR and SWF in June 1953, and BR and SDR in November 1954. The companies in the American occupation zone were more determined to promote TV as a "window to the world", rather than mere "pictured radio", an attitude NWDR shared with its role model, the BBC. The BR, HR, and SDR were the German regionals that introduced American program techniques to Germany; they were the first to dub American material into German and, in 1956, when they felt they were ready, they were the first to introduce a few minutes of commercials, presented in the early evening. Meanwhile, the GDR was launching its own television service, based on the Soviet model. As in the West, there was a test phase, begun on June 3, 1952, with regular programming officially started on March 3, 1956. In the early days, few West Germans and even fewer East Germans owned a TV set. Most Germans still preferred to go to the movies. One of the events that enhanced the popularity of TV among the West Germans was the broadcast of the 1954 football world cup finals from Bern, which many followed on TV screens in shop windows; another was the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II a year before. In 1954 a regular schedule began through the cooperation of all ARD members. During this time the basic television genres in the central areas of entertainment, information and enlightenment were established, and television plays developed as the medium's own specific art form. Improvements in technology and programming, as well as reduced prices, led to a steady increase in license holders, and the number of licenses passed 1 million in October 1957. This success and new, unused frequencies motivated West German chancellor
Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Dem ...
to increase his influence by opening a second channel called ''Das Freie Deutsche Fernsehen'' (The Free German Television), to be financed by the industry with the central goal of presenting government opinions. But the ''Länder'' (states) fiercely objected to these activities, and they were finally stopped by a court order in 1961. NWDR had initially been awarded service of West Berlin simply because its main transmitter was in the British sector of that city. But the East German uprisings in the summer of 1953 brought about the need for West Berlin to have its own ARD member station. Accordingly,
Sender Freies Berlin Sender Freies Berlin (; abbreviated SFB ; ) was the ARD public radio and television service for West Berlin from 1 June 1954 until 1990 and for Berlin as a whole from German reunification until 30 April 2003. On 1 May 2003 it merged with Ostdeu ...
(SFB) was established on June 1, 1954, independent of NWDR. Since SFB was serving a city under joint allied occupation, it had to combine the broadcasting practices of all three occupying countries. In so doing, SFB established the basic standard of the ARD network. At about this time complaints arose from the state of
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...
, which objected Hamburg having too much control over West German programming, especially as North Rhine-Westphalia had more people than the other three NWDR ''Länder'' combined. So on January 1, 1956, the NWDR was split into WDR, based in Cologne, and NDR, which continued out of Hamburg. But they continued to carry a common television program until 1961. The basic ARD network was completed in 1959 when SR and
Radio Bremen Radio Bremen (RB), Germany's smallest public radio and television broadcaster, is the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (which includes Bremerhaven). With its headquarters sited in Bremen, Radio Brem ...
opened their own television services.


1960s - 1970s

In the 1960s West German television came into its own. In the early part of the decade, some of the larger ARD companies started to further regionalize themselves by launching branch stations. NDR opened branches in Hanover (for Lower Saxony) and Kiel (for Schleswig-Holstein); WDR operated a sub-channel in the Wupfong district of West
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
(for the North Rhine) and another in Dortmund (for Westphalia); HR opened a branch in Kassel; SDR in Mannheim; and BR in Nuremberg. These opt-out branches diverged from the main stations to present specific local programs for the branch areas, generally for an hour daily. Then, on April 1, 1963, the long-promised second TV network, the ''
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
'' (''Second German Television'') started. Unlike ARD, which was regionalized and had its roots in radio, ZDF was a centrally organized channel devoted solely to television. According to a decision by the ''lander'' governments, programming had to be planned in cooperation with the ARD, with the aim of presenting contrasting elements on the two services, i. e., they had to refrain from broadcasting programs of the same genre against one another. Nevertheless, the well-established ARD perceived the upstart ZDF as a competitor and reacted by beefing up its news coverage. The ZDF did not yet have enough journalists to reach ARD's news standards, so it concentrated on entertainment in order to gain a larger audience. In 1967, vice chancellor
Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...
started the era of color TV in West Germany. Also, beginning in 1964, several member networks of the ''ARD'' started broadcasting third television programs, known colloquially as ''Die Dritten'' (''The Third Networks''). There were five of them, from North to South: * Nord 3 (shared by NDR, SFB and Radio Bremen), opened January 4, 1965. * West 3 (WDR), opened December 17, 1965. * Hessen 3 (HR), opened October 5, 1964. * Bayern 3 (BR), opened September 22, 1964. * Südwest 3 (shared by SDR, SWF and SR), opened April 5, 1969. These channels were devoted to educational and cultural programs as well as local information. In 1969 East Germany started DFF2, and introduced color programming on both channels. In 1972, the DFF was renamed, dropping the pretense of being an all-German service and becoming Fernsehen der DDR (GDR Television) or DDR-FS. Its two channels became known as DDR1 and DDR2.


1980s

Until the early 1980s, the average West German TV viewer could choose only between usually three TV channels, financed through license fees. In regions bordering neighboring countries, however, viewers were typically also able to get foreign stations via antenna, e.g. those being broadcast from East Germany or the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. Before the advent of privately owned television networks, domestic stations usually broadcast from the early morning hours until about 2 to 3am, interrupted by often over two hours of early-afternoon intermission. In Western Germany this changed in 1984, as the first two privately financed TV networks, ''RTL plus'' (short for ''Radio Television Luxemburg'') and ''SAT 1'', started their programming (previously ''RTL'' had transmitted from Luxembourg into southwestern Germany). In contrast to ARD and ZDF, these new stations were only able to show their programs in the bigger cities via satellite or via cable; additionally, in some urban agglomerations like the Greater
Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
area, they could be picked up by antenna. But as the new stations introduced some very different kinds of programs (especially ''RTL plus'', which in its first years was known for its unconventional afternoon quiz shows and late-evening erotic films), their popularity increased and more people invested in broadband cable access or satellite antennas.


1990s-2000s

After reunification, the TV stations of the
German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...
were dissolved and the remnants were used to found new regional networks, e.g. the ''
Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR; ''Central German Broadcasting'') is the public broadcaster for the federal states of Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. Established in January 1991, its headquarters are in Leipzig, with regional studi ...
'' (''Central German Broadcasting''), as part of the ''ARD''. In addition, more private TV stations opened, becoming available through cable, satellite, and in some cases, over the airwaves. As the millennium approached, Germany began airing new channels. The early private programmes (''RTL'' and ''Sat 1'') gained a large stake in viewer ratings, others like Kabel 1, ProSieben,
RTL II RTL Zwei (stylised as RTLZWEI), formerly spelled RTL 2 and RTL II, is a German-language television channel that is operated by ''RTL2 Television GmbH & Co. KG''. RTL2 is a private television broadcaster with a full program ''(Vollprogramm)'' ...
, and VOX got smaller shares. The normal ratings chain is: ARD, RTL, ZDF, Sat1. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Fernsehforschung: Marktanteile 2007 (in German) RTL and ProSieben started buying international television series, mainly from the United States (like Friends, ALF,
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
, Smallville,
Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into s ...
). ARD and ZDF continued to produce more of their own content by investing in their own production companies and buying less international shows. In contrast, ARD and ZDF exported some show concepts to the US, UK and China; for example " Wetten, dass..?", and some of their shows are selling worldwide, e.g.
Derrick A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower, and ...
. In 2004, a German law (Rundfunkstaatsvertrag) required channels to switch from analogue signals to digital signals by 2010. Many regions can already receive the digital signals like Berlin, Lower-Saxony or the Ruhr valley. The programme diversity is by far the largest in Europe; with Germany being in the middle of Europe it can receive satellite channels like
BBC World News BBC World News is an international English-language pay television network, operated under the ''BBC Global News Limited'' division of the BBC, which is a public corporation of the UK government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and ...
, TVE, Al-Jazeera,
RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...
, TF1,
CNBC Europe Consumer News and Business Channel Europe (referred to on air simply as CNBC) is a business and financial news television channel which airs across Europe. The station is based in London, where it shares the Adrian Smith (architect), Adrian S ...
and other pan-European or Asian-African channels.


See also

*
Television in Germany Television in Germany began in Berlin on 22 March 1935, broadcasting for 90 minutes three times a week. It was home to the first public television station in the world, named ''Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow''. In 2000, the German television market h ...
*
Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow The Fernsehsender "Paul Nipkow" (''TV Station Paul Nipkow'') in Berlin, Germany, was the first public television station in the world. Carrying programming from Deutscher Fernseh-Rundfunk, it was on the air from 22 March 1935, until it was shut ...
was a television station in Germany (1933–1945)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Television In Germany Television in Germany 1935 in Germany 1950 in German television