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On Thursday 15 May 1997, the Investigating Committee on Media Concentrations (Konzentrationsermittlungskommission - KEK), provided for in Article 35 of the Broadcasting Agreement between the Federal States, was formally established in Potsdam, where it will be based. It has the task of ensuring, before and after licensing, that private broadcasters respect the regulations introduced which are designed to guarantee plurality of opinion (see IRIS 1996-4: 9). Reimut Jochimsen, president of the Central Bank of Nordrhein-Westfalen, was elected president. The six members appointed by the Presidents...

On 20 May 1997, Telekom boss Ron Sommer invited fifty leading politicians and media representatives to discuss the future of cable TV at a round table. The meeting had been preceded by protracted wrangling over cable allocation (see IRIS 1997-3: 14). Telekom, which has an almost total monopoly of the German cable network (in the USA referred to as "cable system"), has announced that it wishes in future, not merely to carry programmes, but to handle them commercially as well. Thus it wants to look after digital TV subscribers itself, get involved in arranging programme packages and selling them,...

On 31 May 1997 the Minister-Presidents of the German Länder (Federal States) Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate signed the Agreement agreed in principle amongst them in mid-April on the new Südwestrundfunk (see IRIS 1997-5: 14). In doing so, they agreed to an amendment to the draft of the Agreement. Now all radio stations (i.e. whether they offer regional or specifically local programmes) in the future SWR must make provision for "regional and Land -specific windows". The decision on windows reflects the future organisation's desire to create group identity extending beyond each separate...

On 21 May 1997, the German Federal Cabinet approved a Bill supplementing the new Telecommunications Act (Telekommunikationsgesetz - TKG), submitted by the Minister for Posts and Telecommunications, thus paving the way for its adoption by Parliament. The text provides a basis for the regulatory authority which is to be set up by 1 January 1998, under the Telecommunications Act, itself in force since 1 August 1996. The TKG provides a regulatory framework for liberalisation of the German telecommunications market, starting on 1 January 1998 (see IRIS 1996-7: 9). Under Section 98 of the TKG, the...

According to a judgment delivered by the Hamburg Court of Appeal (Oberlandesgericht - OLG) on 15 May 1997, the pay-TV broadcaster DF 1 is to be allowed to conclude subscription contracts throughout the Federal Republic of Germany. The Court's judgment sets aside the original judgment by the Regional Court in Hamburg in favour of the company Premiere on appeal; it is enforceable immediately. The pay-TV firm Premiere had brought a complaint against the nation-wide broadcasting of DF 1 programmes by satellite. The judgment of the Hamburg regional court in favour of Premiere in January this year...