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In its ruling of 15 October 2025, the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court – BVerwG) once again had to rule on a case concerning the payment of the broadcasting fee that is used to finance public broadcasters in Germany. It concluded that the levying of the fee is only incompatible with the Grundgesetz (Basic Law) if the overall programme offering of the public broadcasters grossly fails to meet the requirements for diverse and balanced content and opinion over a prolonged period of time. However, since it is the task of the lower courts to examine this, the action was referred...

On 11 September 2025, the Landtag (state parliament) of Rhineland-Palatinate debated the amendment to the Landesmediengesetz (state media law) at first reading. The bill was introduced by the three governing parliamentary groups of the SPD, Alliance 90/The Greens and the FDP as well as the CDU as the opposition group. It aims to comprehensively modernise the state media law, strengthen the diversity of Rhineland-Palatinate’s media landscape and promote editorial independence. Under the bill, press publishers will have greater opportunities to own shares in broadcasting companies, media...

In its decision of 23 July 2025, which was published on 21 August 2025, the First Senate of the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) rejected a constitutional complaint filed by Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb) concerning the reformed rbb-Staatsvertrag (rbb state treaty). The challenged provisions of the treaty concern the regionality and organisation of rbb as a multi-state broadcaster under federal responsibility. rbb is a public broadcaster jointly established by the federal states of Berlin and Brandenburg. It complained to the Federal Constitutional Court that its...

At its meeting on 9 September, the Kommission zur Ermittlung der Konzentration im Medienbereich (Commission on Concentration in the Media - KEK) approved, among other things, the acquisition of all shares in Sky Deutschland Fernsehen GmbH & Co. KG (Sky) and NBC Universal Global Networks Deutschland GmbH (NBCU) by RTL Deutschland GmbH (RTL). Although the takeover would give RTL a television audience share of around 23% in Germany and have further concentration-related consequences for related markets such as the video-on-demand, advertising and rights markets, the KEK did not identify any serious...

On 8 July 2025, the Kommission zur Ermittlung der Konzentration im Medienbereich (Commission on Concentration in the Media – KEK) presented its 8th report on media concentration in Germany, entitled “Social Media, AI & Co - New threats to diversity of opinion”. The Commission was established in 1997 and is responsible, on behalf of the state media authorities, for ensuring compliance with rules on safeguarding diversity of opinion in the private television sector at national level. The report, in which it examines the development of media concentration every three years, contains...