The Local Germany

First person ever jailed over public broadcaster fee

Mon, 04 Apr 2016 15:59:52 +0200

Sieglinde Baumert began a six-month prison sentence in February after refusing to co-operate with the authorities trying to force her to pay the public broadcaster fee.

Broadcaster fees could jump to €19 per month: report

Fri, 01 Apr 2016 13:35:33 +0200

Those monthly fees all residents have to pay towards public broadcasting could get steeper in the next five years, officials say.

Mandatory broadcaster fees go before high court

Wed, 16 Mar 2016 12:43:56 +0100

Thirty complaints have been launched against the mandatory monthly fee of €17.50 German residents must pay for public television and radio broadcasters.

Firms and disabled slam new TV licence fee

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 13:22:00 +0100

Drugstore chain Rossmann has become the latest German company to slam the country's new TV licence fee, saying it plans to go to court over its alleged 500-percent hike. Disabled rights groups have also condemned the charge per household.

TV licence fee collector fined for Nazi salute

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:27:00 +0100

A woman collecting Germany's GEZ public broadcasting licence fees in Ulm has reportedly been fined after a dispute with a pub owner escalated and she made racist comments and a Nazi salute.

TV licence fee reform will hurt businesses, experts warn

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 11:05:00 +0200

The planned reform of Germany’s unpopular GEZ broadcasting licence fees could heavily burden businesses, industry experts warned on Monday.

Dead dachshunds pay no bills

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:03:00 +0200

A Munich resident was recently billed for Germany's public broadcasting licence fees, but the authorities soon discovered there was a problem: “Bini” was a dachshund dead for the past five years.

Language group moots GEZ boycott and support for BBC over radio

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 12:28:00 +0200

A German language association has called for a boycott of the GEZ public broadcasting licence fees because radio stations in the country rarely play German music - instead listeners should pay the BBC.

States agree to reform TV licence fees

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:50:00 +0200

Germany’s state premiers have agreed to overhaul the country’s hated GEZ broadcasting licence fees and institute a per-household charge for public television and radio.

Critics call for end to GEZ television licence fees

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:23:00 +0200

Critics are once again calling for an end to Germany’s hated GEZ public broadcasting licence fees ahead of a meeting of state premiers on Wednesday.

Private channels to go to EU over licence fees

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:45:00 +0100

The chairman of Germany's association of private broadcasters (VPRT) has threatened to make a formal complaint to the European Commission over state broadcasting licence fees.

Broadcasting fees spark coalition rift

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:40:00 +0100

The two parties of Germany's ruling coalition, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), are at loggerheads over the issue of licence fees for state broadcasting.

States may pull the plug on TV licence fee authority GEZ

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:14:00 +0100

Germany’s hated GEZ public broadcasting licence fees – required of everyone who owns a television or radio – may be changing soon, daily Handelsblatt reported on Tuesday.