Germany

[DE] Amendment to Broadcasting Laws in Hessen

IRIS 2006-10:1/16

Alexander Scheuer

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

With the planned change to the law on private broadcasting as well as to the law on Hessian broadcasting, the regional government is striving, as it has explained, to modernise the legal framework regarding electronic media.

Changes to the allocation of radio and television frequencies should lead in future to these being organised as economically as possible. Changes are also planned to the provisions referring to utilisation of analogue and digital cable facilities. The proposals submitted in a first draft for hearing were however received by the Association of Private Broadcasting and Telecommunications (VPRT) with some scepticism, since the risk existed of the concerns of private broadcasters not being sufficiently taken into account. Regarding the media supervisory authority and the use of financial resources resulting from broadcasting fees and tax, expenditure for the promotion of media expertise has been cut and funding for promoting infrastructure and the media economy increased. This planned change has already been criticised by the Assembly of the Hessian Regional Institute for Private Broadcasting.

Such an intended change to the law on Hessian Broadcasting has enabled the Federal Audit Office to audit subsidiaries of the company in which it, directly, indirectly or together with other public broadcasters, has a majority stakeholding.