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At the end of July, the Verwaltungsgericht Berlin (Berlin Administrative Court - VG) issued an important decision concerning the switch-over to digital broadcasting. Its ruling contains guidelines on how users might be expected to keep up with technical advances in relation to the switch from analogue to digital transmission. The dispute between the European cultural channel ARTE and the Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg (BerlinBrandenburg Media Authority - MABB) concerned the broadcaster's right to analogue transmission capacity within the broadband cable network for its afternoon programmes which...

In a ruling published at the end of June 2002, the Verwaltungsgericht Berlin (Berlin Administrative Court - VG Berlin) gave its opinion on, inter alia, the expertise and pluralist structure of the Gemeinsame Stelle Jugendschutz und Programm der Landesmedienanstalten (Joint Body for Youth Protection and Programmes of the Regional Media Authorities - GSJP), the Medienrat (Media Council) of the Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg (Berlin-Brandenburg Media Authority - MABB) and the Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Fernsehen (Voluntary Self-Regulatory Authority for Television - FSF). The case concerned an application...

The Oberlandesgericht Celle (Celle High Court of Appeal - OLG) recently quashed the decision by the Amtsgericht Hannover (Hannover District Court - AG) to acquit "Big Brother" producer Endemol Entertainment Productions GmbH (Endemol) on the charge of surreptitious advertising. It referred the case for review. The Niedersächsische Landesmedienanstalt (Lower Saxony Regional Media Authority -NLM) had fined Endemol because its then managing director had deliberately broadcast surreptitious advertising. During the live broadcast in question by RTL Television GmbH (RTL), advertising rules had been...

In the run-up to the forthcoming Bundestag elections, the Direktorenkonferenz der Landesmedienanstalten (Congress of Land Media Authority Directors - DLM) has published a paper containing legal guidelines on important principles governing political party election broadcasts on national commercial television. Under Article 42.2 of the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (Inter-State Broadcasting Agreement - RStV), political parties taking part in elections should, subject to certain conditions, be granted a reasonable amount of transmission time. Taking into account the relevant literature and case-law, the document...

On 11 June 2002, the respective governments of the German Bundesländer of Berlin and Brandenburg decided to authorise the merger of the two broadcasting authorities, Sender Freies Berlin (SFB) and Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg (ORB). The merger was officially confirmed by the Staatsvertrag über die Errichtung einer gemeinsamen Rundfunkanstalt (Inter-State Agreement on the establishment of a joint broadcasting authorityRBB-StV-E), which was signed on 25 June. The new body will be known as Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB). The broadcaster's official headquarters will be in Berlin and its director...