The Local Germany

Compulsory broadcaster fee is legal, Germany's highest court rules

Wed, 18 Jul 2018 12:50:02 +0200

Germany’s highest court ruled on Wednesday that the compulsory broadcaster fee which every household has to pay is legal, after critics had disputed the payment's constitutionality.

Top court deliberates whether compulsory broadcaster fees are legal

Wed, 16 May 2018 14:13:13 +0200

Expats far and wide have a big beef with the required broadcasting contribution of €17.50 per month. This may all come to an end as the German Constitutional Court decides on whether the fees are constitutional.

Crackdown on dodgers of mandatory German broadcaster fees in May

Fri, 20 Apr 2018 13:31:39 +0200

Up until now, many German households have been able to avoid the monthly €17.50 fee for public television and radio broadcasters. But this is set to change very soon.

Up to 10 million people could be hit by threatened radio shut down

Fri, 06 Apr 2018 18:08:43 +0200

The airwaves across many parts of Germany could fall silent next week due to a financial dispute between radio stations and an FM broadcasting provider.

California radio station brings cool music and ‘cultural exchange’ to Berlin airwaves

Tue, 17 Oct 2017 15:57:58 +0200

Now you don’t just have to get your news fix from The Local. KCRW went on air in Berlin on Monday, promising award-winning music shows and plans to delve into local current affairs.

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.

Berlin NGO smuggles pirate radio into Syria

Thu, 22 Oct 2015 19:48:16 +0200

A Berlin-based NGO has given an old technology a modern twist to ensure that independent journalism can fly under the government radar in the Syrian civil war.

Man wins Cold War radio competition, 44 years on

Mon, 13 Jan 2014 10:50:00 +0100

An East German teenager who was listening illicitly to a West German radio station and sent a postcard across the Iron Curtain to try to win a record will receive the prize on Tuesday, 44 years later.

Where your TV licence fee goes

Fri, 25 Oct 2013 13:09:00 +0200

Since January, German households have had to pay a monthly broadcasting license fee of €17.98, regardless of whether they own a television or radio. Now public broadcasters ARD and ZDF have revealed where that money goes.

Neo-Nazi radio presenters sentenced

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:33:00 +0100

Eleven employees of a Neo-Nazi internet radio station were handed suspended sentences in the western German town of Koblenz Thursday. A twelfth worker was imprisoned for two years because he carried previous offences.

Criticism for return of radio host in 'Holocaust denial' row

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:05:00 +0100

Berlin’s Jewish community has criticised the reinstatement of a radio host who sent an email to a listener which appeared to deny the Holocaust.

Neo-Nazis face court for online radio content

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 08:53:00 +0100

Eighteen operators of a right-wing extremist online radio station face a Koblenz court on Monday for incitement of hatred. They face up to five years in prison.

Motoring past the mainstream

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:24:00 +0100

In the short space of five years, MotorFM has established itself as one of Germany’s most innovative radio stations. The Local spoke with founders Mona Rübsamen and Markus Kühn about broadcasting in the internet age.

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.

Cultural group slams plans to bin Berlin multicultural radio show

Sat, 24 May 2008 18:03:00 +0200

The president of German cultural institution Akademie der Künste Klaus Staeck has criticized a recent decision to take a popular Berlin multicultural radio station off air, calling it an “irresponsible rejection of cultural diversity.”