Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz has written a brief expert opinion on the state treaty on the reform of public broadcasting (Reform State Treaty), which is available here as a PDF. On September 26, 2024, the heads of government of the federal states released a draft state treaty for public consultation and requested feedback on the proposals by October 11, 2024.
This reform aims to enable modern public broadcasting that reaches the entire society with its offerings. To this end, public broadcasting’s mandate will be strengthened in terms of quality but limited in terms of quantity. The draft therefore contains proposals for digitizing services, reducing niche and radio services, and limiting the sports rights budget. Additionally, it seeks to strengthen cooperation between public broadcasters.
The main points of the reform proposals are summarized in this presentation.
The “KEF-Sonderbericht zu finanziellen Auswirkungen möglicher Ansätze zur Reform des öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunks” [KEF Special Report on the Financial Impact of Possible Approaches to Reforming Public Broadcasting], which was submitted to the Broadcasting Commission on October 2, is available here (in German).
Wolfgang Schulz’ expert opinion on the Staatsvertrag zur Reform des öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunks (Reformstaatsvertrag) [State Treaty on the Reform of Public Broadcasting (Reform Treaty)] is only available in German.