MUNICH (dp) – It’s no idle threat, says Norbert Schneider, head of the Directors Conference, which groups Germany’s 15 state media watchdogs.
Schneider has warned Germany’s private networks that unless they shape up their programming and include more actual news, they face the downgrading of their licences as a general interest broadcaster.
According to Germany’s constitution, state media authorities are responsible for processing applications, issuing licences and cable slots, and upholding regulations concerning youth protection laws.Under the state media treaty, privately run commercial broadcasters granted the status of a comprehensive channel must air news, information, and educational programmes, as well as entertainment, which can increase their relevance and image, and help boost advertising revenues.Though such a measure would be extreme, those not complying could eventually be relegated to the status of a niche channel with programming limited to special areas. Such a move could hurt advertising turnover, the lifeline of ad-dependent networks.And even worse, offending channels could theoretically lose cable slots to Johnny-come-latelies, such as the all-news channel N-24 or the music channel Viva 2, when new cable applications come before the authorities.Until now channels holding a general interest licence have been given cable priority over specialist channels. But until digitalization comes in permitting multiple channel capacity, slots on German cable systems will become even tighter as new applicants come onto the scene.In a recent study, Schneider called on the broadcasters concerned to devote more coverage to current events such as pension reform, the “mad cow” BSE crisis, and rightwing violence, instead of giving newscast priority to the insipid antics of movie starlets, sports heroes and rock stars, which can be aired in other formats.He took particular aim at RTL 2 and Kabel 1, asking why at the end of the 1990s they had applied to become general interest networks instead of niche entertainment channels. TheDirectors Conference chief urged the private channels to invest more in quality programming.“The private channels are now making money that one should also see reflected in the programming,” he told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily. But RTL 2 and Kabel 1 are in the profit zone, because their reality shows are successful among young viewers.“Big Brother”, “Popstars” (candidates become a girl band), “Expedition Robinson” (candidates live on an island), and talk and game shows all have minimal production costs.The formula works. In the first nine months of 2000, RTL 2 posted viewer market shares of 7 per cent, compared with rival Kabel 1’s 5.3 per cent. RTL’s ad-revenues totalled 319 million euros, while Kabel 1 posted 288 million euros.RTL 2 argues that it fullfils its obligation under the treaty via a daily, 10-minute newscast, which, however, appears mainly to cover computer games, personalities and natural catastrophes.Coverage of politics, as explicitly stated in the state treaty, is overtly neglected. Recent RTL 2 newscasts, critics point out, offered simulated news, not information but entertainment.RTL 2 news is geared to younger viewers in the 14 to 49 age groups, many of whom have shown less interest in the traditional public network newscasts “Tagesschau” (ARD) and “Heute” (ZDF), which cover political, economic and international developments thoroughly.RTL 2 newscasts seemingly focus more on action events such as huge fires, shipwrecks, road accidents, or freak weather, in short, thrills and amusement, with little heed paid to politics.The watchdogs are concerned that many, especially very young viewers, are growing up deriving their world view from staged newscasts and simulated investigative journalism as aired in RTL 2’s tabloid reporter magazine, “Die Redaktion”.Important international news such as the U.S. election, the wrangling over the future shape of the European Union, and the conflict in the Middle East, fall by the wayside.
