In the past there were several proposals for a home for public broadcasters ARD And ZDF To merge. Now, the SME association of the union is starting to debate again and recommending a radical reorganization of public service broadcasts. The debate was also fueled by a dispute over an increase in radio license fees, which was discontinued by the state of Saxony-Anhalt. In one Interview Along with VRM newspapers, ZDF director Thomas Pilot rejects this suggestion. “You have to make the discussion objective. We have two systems with different functions. ZDF has a national mandate. On the other hand, ARD is a working group made up of important regional broadcasters,” Pilot said. “ARD – Chairman of the Board of Directors of ARD, which changes every two years, and the Program Directorate in Munich. In this regard, an association cannot be created. I don’t see any commercial logic in it,” he said.
The Chairman of ZDF also does not see any synergistic effects in the merger: “We will continue broadcasting. I also do not think that this idea will find only a majority approach in the federal states. It would be wrong with regard to media policy, because there is only more energy in single rail packages. “. “Especially now, when there are a lot of ups and downs: private broadcasters are under pressure from international platforms. Newspaper publishers must assert themselves in the face of digitization. It is important to preserve diversity of opinion and not unnecessarily restrict it,” he continues in the interview.
