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The Rundrunkrat (Broadcasting Council) of Radio Bremen, the smallest of the nine public service broadcasters that make up the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (German Association of Public Service Broadcasters – ARD), adopted a resolution on the further development of public service broadcasting at its meeting on 16 March 2023. Like Saarländische Rundfunk (Saarland broadcasting corporation), Radio Bremen has been the subject of numerous merger-related discussions and demands. The Rundfunkrat believes it has a duty...

On 16 March 2023, the heads of government of the German Länder adopted the draft Vierte Medienänderungsstaatsvertrag (fourth state treaty amending the state media treaty), which includes provisions designed to strengthen compliance, transparency and supervision in public service broadcasting. The proposed amendment of the state media treaty contains standard rules in these areas that will apply to the state broadcasters that comprise the ARD, as well as ZDF and Deutschlandradio. The draft treaty will now be submitted to the state parliaments for preliminary consultation before being...

On 27 February 2023, the Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft (Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture – BMEL) presented the key elements of a proposed bill prohibiting the advertising of foods with high sugar, fat or salt content. The BMEL’s initiative follows the discovery that food advertising aimed at children very often promotes highly processed foods that contain excessive levels of these ingredients. Excessive consumption of such foods contributes to diet-related diseases (e.g. obesity, diabetes) that have high societal costs. Food advertising has a lasting...

On 2 March 2023, the Kommission zur Ermittlung der Konzentration im Medienbereich (Commission on Concentration in the Media – KEK) published its opinion of 14 February 2023 on the draft European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). Although it supports the objectives of the EMFA in principle, it points out that protecting pluralism is a task to be carried out at member state level, independently of state authorities. It believes this is not reflected in the current proposal. The KEK is a joint organ of the 16 German state media authorities. It is responsible for guaranteeing plurality of opinion...

On 15 February 2023, the Verband Privater Medien (German Association of Private Media – VAUNET), the umbrella organisation of audio and audiovisual media companies in Germany, published its annual report on media consumption for 2022. The report shows that, although the use of audio and audiovisual media accounted for a slightly lower proportion of the total media time budget, of users aged 14 and over in Germany, than the previous year’s record level, it remained very high at almost 90%. Average daily usage of such content was 9 hours and 43 minutes in 2022. Daily video consumption...