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84-547: 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 programming approved by the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and broadcast to audiences in East Germany and parts of West Germany . DFF served as

168-589: A common sight in former East German cities. Colour television was introduced on 3 October 1969 on the new channel DFF2, which commenced broadcasting the same day, ready for the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the founding of the GDR on 7 October. Walter Ulbricht opened the second channel. DFF chose the French SÉCAM colour standard, common in the Eastern Bloc, while West Germany invented and introduced

252-515: A free and open debate programme on Thursdays, complete with critical phone-in contributions from viewers. At first this had to be handled very carefully, as the Stasi – the state secret police – were still operating and had an office in the studios. In February 1990, the Volkskammer passed a media resolution defining DDR-FS as a politically independent public broadcasting system. A law passed by

336-523: A government. These are media outlets that, while they may not be directly controlled by the state in terms of ownership, are effectively under government influence due to financial dependencies or managerial control. This category includes both public media that have lost their independence and private media that operate under significant government influence. These are media that manage to maintain high levels of independence in funding, governance, and editorial decisions. These media are primarily funded by

420-458: A method to combat efforts by protestors. Propaganda spread by state-media organizations can detract from accurate reporting and provide an opportunity for a regime to influence public sentiment. Mass protests against governments considered to be authoritarian, such as those in China, Russia, Egypt, and Iran are often distorted by state-run media organizations in order to defame protesters and provide

504-607: A popular childhood memory. The West version was discontinued by the ARD upon reunification; however, stations in the former GDR continued to play clips from the East's Sandman every night, and RBB still continues the practice as does KIKA . The character plays an important background role in the popular 2003 tragicomedy film Good Bye Lenin! , symbolising the feelings of loss of the main character played by Daniel Brühl . The state broadcaster and its channels went under various names over

588-477: A positive light on the government's actions. It is common for countries with strict control of newspapers to have fewer firms listed per capita on their markets and less developed banking systems. These findings support the public choice theory, which suggests higher levels of state ownership of the press would be detrimental to economic and financial development. This is due to state media being commonly associated with autocratic regimes where economic freedom

672-611: A television centre in Adlershof on 11 June 1950. The GDR television service began experimental test broadcasts on 20 December 1951. The NWDR announced plans to begin a regular television service from Hamburg starting with Christmas 1952. This spurred the East German authorities into further action. A relay transmitter in the centre of East Berlin was built in February 1952 and connected to Adlershof on 3 June. On 16 November,

756-591: A total state monopoly in the media like North Korea and Laos experience a "Castro effect", where state control is powerful enough that no journalistic harassment is required in order to restrict press freedom. Historically, state media also existed during the Cold War in authoritarian states such as the Soviet Union , East Germany , Republic of China (Taiwan) , Poland , Romania , Brazil and Indonesia . The public interest theory claims state ownership of

840-452: Is a public good that benefits the nation in question. It contradicts the belief that all state media is propaganda and argues that most states require an unbiased, easily accessible, and reliable stream of information. Public interest theory suggests that the only way to maintain an independent media is to cut it off from any economic needs, therefore a state-run media organization can avoid issues associated with private media companies, namely

924-655: Is also referred to media entities that are administered, funded, managed, or directly controlled by the government of a country. Three factors that can affect the independence of state media over time are: funding, ownership/governance, and editorial autonomy. These entities can range from being completely state-controlled, where the government has full control over their funding, management, and editorial content, to being independent public service media , which, despite receiving government funding, operate with editorial autonomy and are governed by structures designed to protect them from direct political interference. State media

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1008-409: Is being talked about and what should be talked about" and pictured all aspects of postwar West German society—including conflict-laden topics, scandals, and other taboo topics, such as former Nazis who had held important roles. ARD nevertheless produced a provisional second TV channel ( ARD 2  [ de ] ) from 1 June 1961 until ZDF started its transmissions on 1 April 1963. Colour television

1092-473: Is beneficial, whereas the public choice theory suggests that state control undermines economic and political freedoms . The public interest theory , also referred to as the Pigouvian theory, states that government ownership of media is desirable. Three reasons are offered. Firstly, the dissemination of information is a public good, and to withhold it would be costly even if it is not paid for. Secondly,

1176-408: Is considered at risk because it is susceptible to slipping into state control if the political or economic pressures increase. Its content, according to some sources, is usually more prescriptive, telling the audience what to think, particularly as it is under no pressure to attract high ratings or generate advertising revenue and therefore may cater to the forces in control of the state as opposed to

1260-502: Is often associated with authoritarian governments that use state media to control, influence, and limit information. Media and Journalism Research Center uses State Media Matrix, a typology of state and public media that allows their classification according to three sets of factors that affect the independence of these media: funding, ownership/governance, and editorial autonomy. This category includes media outlets that are predominantly funded, managed, and editorially controlled by

1344-461: Is part of a checks-and-balances system of a democracy , known as the Fourth Estate , along with the judiciary , executive and legislature . States are dependent on the public for their legitimacy that allows them to operate. The flow of information becomes critical to their survival, and public choice theory argues that states cannot be expected to ignore their own interests, and instead

1428-526: Is severely restricted and there is a large amount of corruption within the economic and political system. Das Erste Das Erste ( German: [das ˈʔeːɐ̯stə] ; "The First") is the flagship national television channel of the ARD association of public broadcasting corporations in Germany. Das Erste is jointly operated by the nine regional public broadcasting corporations that are members of

1512-579: The Journal of Democracy , " authoritarian or totalitarian media outlets" take advantage of both domestic and foreign media due to state censorship in their native countries and the openness of democratic nations to which they broadcast. He cites China's CCTV , Russia's RT , and Venezuela's TeleSUR as examples. Surveys find that state-owned television in Russia is viewed by the Russian public as one of

1596-576: The 1980 Summer Olympics by Moscow was a source of pride for the Eastern Bloc. However, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 had caused outrage in the West, leading to a boycott of the games by 64 western-aligned nations. DDR-FS, therefore, wished to present colour pictures of the 1980 Summer Olympic Games to West Germany, which was part of the boycott, and a programme of experimental transmissions in PAL

1680-537: The Deutsche Bundespost . However, the transmitters were powerful enough that Das Erste could easily be seen in nearly all of East Germany as well. Exceptions included Dresden , located in a deep valley in southeastern East Germany, and the area around Rügen . Indeed, Das Erste's broadcasts, particularly its newscasts, were far more popular in East Germany than those of state broadcaster Deutscher Fernsehfunk . One popular nickname for ARD in East Germany

1764-586: The Middle East and some Asian countries (with the exception of Japan , India , Indonesia , Mongolia , Nepal , the Philippines , South Korea and Thailand where large areas of private press exist.) Full state monopolies exist in China , Myanmar , and North Korea . Issues with state media include complications with press freedom and journalistic objectivity . According to Christopher Walker in

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1848-463: The PAL colour standard. Mutual reception in black and white remained possible as the basic television standard was the same. Colour sets were at first not widely available in the East and many of these were modified to receive PAL as well as SÉCAM. East German manufacturers later made dual standard sets. The introduction of DFF2 marked an increase in the hours of broadcasting overall. On 11 February 1972,

1932-565: The reforms in Moscow under Mikhail Gorbachev . At first, DDR-FS stuck to the party line and barely reported the mass protests in the country that began on 9 September. However, after Erich Honecker was removed from office on Wednesday 18 October 1989 – two days after Aktuelle Kamera showed pictures of the rally that was held in Leipzig the Monday before, without any censorship at all – and

2016-455: The 1930s–40s) was one of the more popular items on DFF. On 8 October 1958, DFF imported Sandmännchen (the little Sandman) from radio. Both East and West television ran versions of this idea: an animated film that told a children's story and then sent them to bed before the programmes for adults began at 19:00. With several generations of children growing up with the Sandman, it has remained

2100-476: The ARD. The channel was officially launched on Christmas Day, 25 December 1952 as NWDR-Fernsehen and renamed to Deutsches Fernsehen in 1954. Since 1996, the official brand is Das Erste ; the full name Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen ( First German Television ) is still used before every major news edition. In colloquial speech, the station is usually called Erstes Programm ("First Channel"), or by its metonym , ARD . The channel's first experimental broadcast

2184-539: The Clueless") and the extreme north-east (around Rügen , Greifswald , Neubrandenburg and beyond). ARD came to be known colloquially in the GDR as "Ausser Rügen und Dresden" ("except Rügen and Dresden"), in reference to its coverage area. By the end of 1958, there were over 300,000 television sets in the GDR. News and political programming on DFF was usually scheduled not to clash with similar programming on Western channels (as most viewers would probably have preferred

2268-448: The DFF was renamed, dropping the pretense of being an all-German service and becoming Fernsehen der DDR – GDR Television or DDR-FS. The previous name survived in episodes of The Sandman , which were repeated quite often. Since DFF2/DDR-F2 broadcast only in the evening for most of its lifespan, special transmissions could easily be made in the afternoon for special events. The hosting of

2352-406: The DFF. Viewers, accustomed to the DFF's programming, were concerned at the loss of favourite shows and the choice most viewers had between West and East channels. The new Länder considered keeping a form of DFF running as the equivalent to the ARD members' "third programme" in other regions. However, political opinion was against centralisation and in favour of the new devolved system brought in from

2436-556: The Volkskammer in September 1990 made this a legal requirement. On 12 March 1990, emphasising the change and reflecting the forthcoming reunification , DDR1 and DDR2 were renamed back to DFF1 and DFF2 . The name change would result to DFF now gearing up for this process by airing more commercials and broadcasting US television programs in the same manner as ARD and ZDF, as well as providing regional opt-out news broadcasts to

2520-546: The broadcasts with any degree of effectiveness would also interfere with reception within West Germany (breaching treaties and inviting retaliation). Instead, the Free German Youth , Freie Deutsche Jugend (FDJ), the official youth movement in the GDR, started the campaign "Blitz contra Natosender" – "Strike against NATO's stations" – in 1961 to encourage young people to remove or damage aerials pointing at

2604-734: The by now reinstated states in the east. Upon reunification on 3 October 1990, the DFF ceased to be the state broadcaster of the former GDR. Because the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany reserves broadcasting as a matter for the German states (Länder) , the Federal Government was not permitted to continue to run a broadcasting service. Article 36 of the Unification Treaty (Einigungsvertrag) between

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2688-608: The channel, Das Erste HD , is also broadcast. Broadcast of Das Erste HD began in February 2010 with the coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia , Canada . Das Erste HD is available via satellite ( DVB-S2 on Astra 19.2°E ), cable (all cable providers in Germany and some providers throughout Europe), IPTV (MagentaTV), encoded using H.264 AVC , and on digital terrestrial television in 1080p50 , encoded using H.265 HEVC . All nine of Germany's regional public-broadcasting organizations contribute to

2772-580: The cost of the provision and dissemination of information is high, but once costs are incurred, marginal costs for providing the information are low and so are subject to increasing returns. Thirdly, state media ownership can be less biased, more complete and accurate if consumers are ignorant and in addition to private media that would serve the governing classes. However, Pigouvian economists, who advocate regulation and nationalisation , are supportive of free and private media. Public interest theory holds that when operated correctly, government ownership of media

2856-496: The country's most authoritative and trusted institutions. Nations such as Denmark, Norway and Finland that have both the highest degree of freedom of press and public broadcasting media. Compared to most autocratic nations which attempt to limit press freedom to control the spread of information. A 2003 study found that government ownership of media organizations was associated with worse democratic outcomes. "Worse outcomes" are associated with higher levels of state ownership of

2940-475: The determinants and consequences of ownership of the media. The public interest theory suggests that more benign governments should have higher levels of control of the media which would in turn increase press freedom as well as economic and political freedoms. Conversely, the public choice theory affirms that the opposite is true - "public spirited", benevolent governments should have less control which would increase these freedoms. Generally, state ownership of

3024-402: The evening, but the former GDR did not have ARD broadcasters to fill these spaces. Therefore, DFF continued to provide programmes until 31 December 1991 in these slots: The dissolution of DFF and its replacement by Länder -based ARD broadcasters remained controversial throughout the process. Employees of the DFF were worried about job prospects in the new broadcasters and also had a loyalty to

3108-534: The exception of Belarus , Russia and Ukraine ) is mostly private and free of state control and ownership, along with North and South America (with the exception of Cuba and Venezuela ) The press "role" in the national and societal dynamics of the United States and Australia has virtually always been the responsibility of the private commercial sector since these countries' earliest days. Levels of state ownership are higher in some African countries,

3192-430: The first broadcasts used a set of seven VHF channels some of which were not in line with any other system at the time. Eventually (around 1960), the channels standard to Western Europe were adopted. In what may have been attempt to frustrate reception (in some areas) of ARD some early TV sets manufactured in the GDR only tuned the seven channels used by DFF (rather than the full set of 11 VHF channels). Later (following

3276-486: The first mobile transmission unit and a third broadcasting studio were added to the system. On 2 January 1956, the "official test programme" of the television centre in Berlin ended, and on 3 January the national Deutscher Fernsehfunk ( German Television Broadcasting – DFF) began transmitting. The new television service was deliberately not called "GDR Television", as the intention was to provide an all-German service, as

3360-478: The first television sets were made available to the public at 3,500 East German marks each. Regular public programming, although still described as testing, began on 21 December 1952 – Joseph Stalin 's birthday – with two hours a day of programmes. Continuity announcer Margit Schaumäker welcomed viewers at 20:00 and introduced the station's logo – the Brandenburg Gate . Speeches by senior figures in

3444-431: The forces in control of the corporation, as described in the propaganda model of the mass media. In more controlled regions, the state may censor content which it deems illegal, immoral or unfavorable to the government and likewise regulate any programming related to the media; therefore, it is not independent of the governing party. In this type of environment, journalists may be required to be members or affiliated with

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3528-513: The government. It represents the highest level of state control over media entities. These outlets lack editorial independence , with the government controlling their editorial agenda in various ways. According to Facebook , state-controlled media are media outlets that Facebook believes may be partially or wholly under the editorial control of their government. State-controlled media extends beyond just assessing financial control or ownership and includes an assessment of editorial control exerted by

3612-501: The hope that viewers tuning in early to catch the film would see the programme. From 7 October 1958, DFF introduced morning programmes – repeats of the previous night's programming for shift workers, broadcast under the title "Wir wiederholen für Spätarbeiter" ("We repeat for late workers"). DFF/DDR-FS produced a number of educational programmes for use in schools, including programmes on chemistry, history, local history and geography, literature, physics, civics, and Russian. Also produced

3696-642: The launch of the second network) UHF tuners were added but early versions only covered the lower part of the band. When colour television was introduced, the SÉCAM system was chosen rather than the West German PAL . The incompatibilities between the two colour systems are minor, allowing for pictures to be watched in monochrome on non-compatible sets. Most East German television receivers were monochrome and colour sets usually had after-market PAL modules fitted to allow colour reception of West German programmes;

3780-659: The main televised propaganda outlet of the SED with censored political and non-political programmes featuring bias towards the Marxist–Leninist ideology of the Eastern Bloc . DFF was known as Fernsehen der DDR ( DDR-FS ; "GDR Television" or "Television of [the] GDR") from 1972 until German reunification in 1990, and DFF assets were replaced by the West German network before it was dissolved on 31 December 1991. Radio

3864-406: The media is found in poor, autocratic non-democratic countries with highly interventionist governments that have some interest in controlling the flow of information. Countries with "weak" governments do not possess the political will to break up state media monopolies. Media control is also usually consistent with state ownership in the economy . As of 2002, the press in most of Europe (with

3948-511: The media, which would reject Pigouvian theory. The news media are more independent and fewer journalists are arrested, detained or harassed in countries with less state control. Harassment, imprisonment and higher levels of internet censorship occur in countries with high levels of state ownership such as Singapore , Belarus , Myanmar , Ethiopia , the People's Republic of China , Iran , Syria , Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan . Countries with

4032-522: The nightly news programme Tagesschau (on the air since 26 December 1952), as well as broadcasts produced individually by ARD member stations. The programs were coordinated by the Programmdirektion based in Munich. Besides several entertaining shows, ARD went political in 1957 when it launched its first political TV magazine, Panorama. Germany's first political TV show adopted the slogan "What

4116-487: The official sale of dual standard sets in East Germany started in December 1977. The same applied in West Germany. There were experimental PAL broadcasts most notably during the 1980 Moscow Olympics (which got little coverage on West German television due to the boycott ). With reunification, it was decided to switch to the PAL colour system. The system was changed between the end of DFF programmes on 14 December 1990 and

4200-496: The opening of ARD programmes on 15 December. The transmission authorities made the assumption that most East Germans had either dual standard or monochrome sets; those who did not could purchase decoders. DDR-FS was the first television broadcaster in Germany to introduce the Betacam magnetic recording system. Betacam was later adopted by all German broadcasters and is still in use by ARD and ZDF . In 1983, DDR-FS also pioneered

4284-487: The output of Das Erste and broadcast its programming in a common schedule. Each regional member of ARD contributes programming to the channel's schedule in proportion to the population of the area it serves. As of 2017 , the time allocations as percentage shares of total broadcast hours were: Before 1990, Das Erste was only distributed in West Germany , and was almost exclusively broadcast using transmitters owned by

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4368-470: The press can compromise election monitoring efforts and obscure the integrity of electoral processes. Independent media sees higher oversight by the media of the government. For example, reporting of corruption increased in Mexico , Ghana and Kenya after restrictions were lifted in the 1990s, but government-controlled media defended officials. Heavily influenced state media can provide corrupt regimes with

4452-429: The press enhances civil and political rights ; whilst under the public choice theory, it curtails them by suppressing public oversight of the government and facilitating political corruption . High to absolute government control of the media is primarily associated with lower levels of political and civil rights, higher levels of corruption, quality of regulation, security of property and media bias . State ownership of

4536-421: The prioritization of the profit motive. State media can be established as a mean for the state to provide a consistent news outlet while private news companies operate as well. The benefits and detriments of this approach often depend on the editorial independence of the media organization from the government. Many criticisms of public interest theory center on the possibility of true editorial independence from

4620-414: The public choice theory argue that the economic incentives involved in a public business force media organizations to stray from unbiased journalism and towards sensationalist editorials in order to capture public interest. This has become a debate over the effectiveness of media organizations that are reliant on the attention of the public. Sensationalism becomes the key focus and turns away from stories in

4704-404: The public interest in favor of stories that capture the attention of the most people. The focus on sensationalism and public attention can lead to the dissemination of misinformation to appease their consumer base. In these instances, the goal of providing accurate information to the public collapses and instead becomes biased toward a dominant ideology. Both theories have implications regarding

4788-413: The public, either through taxation or a specific license fee. This funding model is designed to insulate them from commercial pressures and government influence, ensuring that their programming decisions are made in the public interest. These media entities receive funding from the state and may have some level of state involvement in their management, but they maintain editorial independence. This category

4872-490: The rule of the SED began to break down, DDR-FS reformed their programmes to remove propaganda and to report news freely. The main propaganda programme, Der schwarze Kanal (The Black Channel) – which ran West German TV news items with an explanatory commentary informing viewers of the "real" stories and meanings behind the pictures and generally criticising Western media (particularly ARD and ZDF) – ended with its final episode on 30 October 1989. By

4956-532: The ruling party, such as in the Eastern Bloc former Socialist States the Soviet Union , China or North Korea . Within countries that have high levels of government interference in the media, it may use the state press for propaganda purposes: Additionally, the state-controlled media may only report on legislation after it has already become law to stifle any debate. The media legitimizes its presence by emphasizing "national unity" against domestic or foreign "aggressors". In more open and competitive contexts,

5040-467: The satellite. In 1989, the GDR made an attempt to bring its young people closer to the state and distract them from the media of the West. A new young-person's programme, Elf 99 (1199 being the postal code of the Adlershof studios) was created as part of this plan. However, the plan was not successful as the GDR itself began to dissolve under economic and popular political pressure brought about by

5124-433: The sources of information must remain as independent from the state as possible. Public choice theory argues that the only way to retain independence in a media organization is to allow the public to seek the best sources of information themselves. This approach is effective at creating a free press that is capable of criticizing government institutions and investigating incidents of government corruption. Those critical of

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5208-416: The state may control or fund its own outlet and is in competition with opposition-controlled and/or independent media. The state media usually have less government control in more open societies and can provide more balanced coverage than media outside of state control. State media outlets usually enjoy increased funding and subsidies compared to private media counterparts, but this can create inefficiency in

5292-467: The state media. However, in the People's Republic of China , where state control of the media is high, levels of funding have been reduced for state outlets, which have forced Chinese Communist Party media to sidestep official restrictions on content or publish "soft" editions, such as weekend editions, to generate income. Two contrasting theories of state control of the media exist; the public interest or Pigouvian theory states that government ownership

5376-639: The state to legitimize their actions. The public choice theory asserts that state-owned media would manipulate and distort information in favor of the ruling party and entrench its rule and prevent the public from making informed decisions, which undermines democratic institutions. That would prevent private and independent media, which provide alternate voices allowing individuals to choose politicians, goods, services, etc. without fear from functioning. Additionally, that would inhibit competition among media firms that would ensure that consumers usually acquire unbiased, accurate information. Moreover, this competition

5460-519: The state. While there is little profit motive, the media organization must be funded by the government instead which can create a dependency on the government's willingness to fund an entity may often be critical of their work. The reliability of a state-run media outlet is often heavily dependent on the reliability of the state to promote a free press, many state-run media outlets in western democracies are capable of providing independent journalism while others in authoritarian regimes become mouthpieces for

5544-435: The television organisation followed, then the first edition of the East German national news programme, Aktuelle Kamera , presented by Herbert Köfer . The policy of the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) was to censor the "mass media". As television had a limited audience, it was not classed as a mass medium and therefore Aktuelle Kamera was, at first, uncensored and even critical. This situation changed after

5628-417: The television service reported accurately on the uprising in East Germany on 17 June 1953 . From then on, television newscasts took on a similar character to their radio counterparts, and were sourced from official outlets. Once television was established, the transmitter network grew quickly. Technology and TV studios also extended quickly. In the summer of 1953, Studio I was opened at Adlershof. In 1955,

5712-549: The three Länder ; Mecklenburg therefore joined the existing Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), while the existing Sender Freies Berlin (SFB) expanded to the whole of the city and a new broadcaster, Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg (ORB) was launched for Brandenburg. DFF finally ended on midnight 31 December 1991. The new organisations began transmissions right after that, on 1 January 1992. On 1 May 2003, SFB and ORB merged to form Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB). The Monday evening feature film (usually an entertainment movie from

5796-498: The time the borders opened on 9 November, the main news programme on DDR2 was being produced without censorship or interference, and so it covered the events in full. In recognition of its reliable coverage, the programme was re-broadcast on the Western channel 3sat . DDR-FS joined the 3sat consortium in February 1990. DDR-FS became almost completely separate from the state apparatus, starting a number of new programme strands, including

5880-457: The transmission facilities in Germany were successively converted from the analogue terrestrial PAL standard to the new digital terrestrial DVB-T television standard. Das Erste is available throughout Europe on free-to-air digital satellite television via Astra, as well as on many cable providers. Transmission via the Hot Bird satellite was stopped on 1 April 2017. The average age of

5964-400: The two German states (signed on 31 August 1990) required that DFF was to be dissolved by 31 December 1991 and that the former West German television broadcasting system be extended to replace it. On 15 December 1990 at 20:00, the ARD's Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen (now Das Erste ) channel took over the frequencies of DFF1. Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen had regional opt-outs during the first part of

6048-525: The use of Steadicam equipment for live reporting. State television State media serve as tools for public diplomacy and narrative shaping. These media outlets can broadcast via television, radio, print, and increasingly on social media, to convey government viewpoints to domestic and international audiences. The approach to using state media can vary, focusing on positive narratives, adjusting narratives retroactively, or spreading misinformation through sophisticated social media campaigns. State media

6132-538: The west . The term Republikflucht (leaving the country without permission) was sometimes used to describe the widespread practice of viewing Westfernsehen (Western TV). Nevertheless, people continued to watch ARD broadcasts, leading to the development of Der schwarze Kanal . By the early 1970s, the party line concerning Western TV had become much more relaxed, and in some cases people got building permits to erect large antenna towers in areas of fringe reception. Strikingly elaborate antennas on building roofs are still

6216-500: The west. Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia agreed to pool their broadcasts into Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), an ARD member broadcaster based in Leipzig. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , Brandenburg, and Berlin considered pooling their broadcasts into Nordostdeutschen Rundfunkanstalt – Northeast German Broadcasting (NORA). Another alternative was for Brandenburg and Berlin to consolidate and for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to have its own broadcaster. No agreement could be reached between

6300-582: The western programmes). For example, the main news programme, Aktuelle Kamera , was scheduled at 19:30, between ZDF 's heute at 19:00 and ARD's Tagesschau at 20:00. However, popular entertainment programming (such as Ein Kessel Buntes ) was scheduled to clash with Western news or current affairs programmes in the hope of discouraging viewers from watching the Western programmes. Other popular items (such as films) were scheduled before or after propaganda programmes like Der schwarze Kanal in

6384-624: The years: When television broadcasting started, the GDR chose to use the Western European B/G transmission system rather than the Eastern European D/K system, in order to keep transmissions compatible with West Germany. Of course, this made East German television incompatible with the other Eastern Bloc countries, although the D/K system was used prior to 1957. Although DFF decided to revert to Western Europe's standard,

6468-525: Was Außer Rügen und Dresden (except Rügen and Dresden). On 15 December 1990 following reunification , programming from ARD was distributed by Deutsche Post of the GDR for the first time. The GDR-transmitters were later taken over by the Bundespost and merged organizationally with the West German transmitters. The transmitters of the Bundespost were transferred to Deutsche Telekom in 1995, and then in turn to T-Systems in 2000. Between 2002 and 2008

6552-666: Was "ESP": Einführung in die sozialistische Produktion ("An introduction to Socialist production") and an English-learners course, English for You . Many of these programmes are archived and are available from the DRA in Babelsberg . After the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961, the GDR began a programme to attempt to prevent its citizens from watching West German broadcasts. The GDR had its diplomatic hands tied: jamming

6636-588: Was instituted. However, little came of these experiments. By 1985 there were 6,078,500 licensed televisions or 36.5 for every 100 people. In 1988, the USSR -built Gorizont satellite was launched, providing television programming to much of Europe and northern Africa, and even eastern parts of the Americas. The programmes of all the Eastern European socialist republics, including DDR-F1, were broadcast on

6720-482: Was introduced on 25 August 1967. Since 1 September 1995, Das Erste has broadcast 24 hours a day. The channel's name was changed to Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen ("First German Television") on 1 October 1984. At the same time, a new corporate design was introduced, designed by Hans Bacher , along with new CGI idents produced by Cranston/Csuri Productions in Columbus , Ohio . The previous logo, with stylized waves,

6804-505: Was on 27 November 1950 as the TV channel of the then NWDR , which in 1956 split into NDR and WDR . The regular NWDR television service started on 25 December 1952. Nationwide transmission began on 1 November 1954 within the ARD framework, under the name Deutsches Fernsehen ("German Television"). It was West Germany 's only television channel before the establishment of ZDF in 1963. The new channel consisted of jointly-produced shows such as

6888-474: Was replaced by a new logo showing a stylized number "1" which is still in use today. It changed its name to Das Erste on 1 January 1997, but the long name Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen is still used for some purposes (e.g. the introduction to the main editions of the Tagesschau ). Informally, it is also known under the metonym ARD among viewers. In addition to its SD broadcast, a 720p50 HD version of

6972-479: Was the case with West Germany's TV channels. However, the geography of Germany prevented this – despite placing high-power transmitters in border areas, the GDR could not penetrate the entirety of West Germany. In contrast, West German broadcasts (particularly ARD ) easily reached most of East Germany except for the extreme south-east (most notably Dresden , the area being in a deep valley, leading to its old East German nickname of " Tal der Ahnungslosen ", or "Valley of

7056-727: Was the dominant medium in the former Eastern bloc , with television being considered low on the priority list when compiling Five-Year Plans during the industrialisation of the 1950s. In Germany, the situation was different as East and West Germany were in competition over available frequencies for broadcasts and for viewers across the Iron Curtain . The West German Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR) had made early plans to begin television broadcasts in its area, which originally included West Berlin . The first western test broadcasts were made in 1950. The GDR authorities therefore also made an early start with television and began construction of

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