ARD is a joint organisation of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters. It was founded in 1950 in West Germany to represent the common interests of the new, decentralised, post-war broadcasting services – in particular the introduction of a joint television network.
Das Erste is the flagship national television channel of the ARD association of public broadcasting corporations in Germany. Das Erste is jointly operated by the nine regional public broadcasting corporations that are members of the ARD.
Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, shortened to MDR, is the public broadcaster for the federal states of Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. Established in January 1991, its headquarters are in Leipzig, with regional studios in Dresden, Erfurt and Magdeburg. MDR is a member of the ARD consortium of public broadcasters in Germany.
Deutschlandfunk is a public-broadcasting radio station in Germany, concentrating on news and current affairs. It is one of the four national radio channels produced by Deutschlandradio.
Super RTL is a German free-to-air television network owned by RTL Deutschland. The channel originally launched in 1995 as a joint venture between RTL Group predecessor company CLT-UFA and Disney's Buena Vista International Television Investments division.
Television in Germany began in Berlin on 22 March 1935, broadcasting for 90 minutes three times a week. It was home to the first regular television service in the world, named Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow.
Deutschlandradio is a national German public radio broadcaster.
Welt is a German conservative free-to-air television news channel owned by WeltN24 GmbH.
Saarländischer Rundfunk, shortened to SR, is a public radio and television broadcaster serving the German state of Saarland. With headquarters in the Halberg Broadcasting House in Saarbrücken, SR is a member of the ARD consortium of German public-broadcasting organizations.
In Bavaria and in Württemberg-Baden, Radio München (Munich) and Radio Stuttgart went on air in 1945. In the next years, Radio München was transformed to a Bavarian broadcaster, and in Germany's South West, two public broadcasting corporations started and produced radio and (subsequent) television programs up to their merger in 1998:
Nickelodeon is a German free-to-air television channel for children, part of the international Nickelodeon brand. Originally launched in 1995, and relaunched in 2005, Nickelodeon is based in Berlin. The channel is available on subscription services and as an unscrambled, free-to-air (FTA) satellite signal. On 31 March 2010, the channel re-adopted the name Nickelodeon on air and online, in addition to the new Nickelodeon logo and graphical package being rolled out internationally at the time. The "Nickelodeon" name was re-adopted once again when it rebranded on 1 August 2023, nearly 5 months after its rebrand in the U.S. Since then, the channel is also broadcast in English in addition to German on a secondary audio track. It is aimed at kids between the ages of 6 and 13.
ARD alpha is a German free-to-air television channel run by regional public-service broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk. Its programming consists of shows made by Bayerischer Rundfunk, as well as from ARD and Austrian broadcaster ORF. The channel was originally called BR-alpha, but was rebranded as ARD-alpha on 29 June 2014.
EinsPlus was a German free-to-air television channel owned by ARD and operated by SWR. The channel launched on 29 August 1997 under the name EinsMuXx, and was renamed EinsPlus on 23 April 2005.
One is a German free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the German public-broadcasting consortium ARD. Managed since October 2005 by Westdeutscher Rundfunk on behalf of ARD as a whole, the channel was launched on 30 August 1997.
Tagesschau24 is a German free-to-air television channel owned by ARD and managed by Norddeutscher Rundfunk. It was launched on 30 August 1997 as "EinsExtra" before it became the current name on 1 May 2012.
Cartoonito is a European pay television channel that airs animated programming for pre-school children. It is broadcast in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, the CIS, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland, the Balkans, the Baltics and the Caucasus. Cartoonito was previously the Central and European feed of Boomerang, until it relaunched on 18 March 2023 at 6am CET.
Fritz von Thurn und Taxis (born Friedrich Leonhard Ignatius Josef Maria Lamoral Balthasar Thurn and Taxis on 22 June 1950 in Linz, Upper Austria, Allied-occupied Austria is an Austrian journalist and a member of the Bohemian line of the House of Thurn and Taxis. He became well known as a longtime sportscaster on the Bayerisches Fernsehen television channel. Since 1993, Thurn und Taxis has been a football commentator on the pay television channel Sky Deutschland.
Funk is a German video-on-demand service, operated by the public broadcasters ARD and ZDF. SWR, a regional ARD member, is responsible for the service. Funk describes itself as a "content network". The target group is people between the age of 14 and 29.
Helmar Rudolf Willi Weitzel is a German television presenter, journalist and film producer. He moderated the television programs Willi wills wissen and Willis VIPs. In 2008 he made the movie Willi und die Wunder dieser Welt. Other TV shows he hosted were Willis Quiz Quark Club, Willi wills wissen – Gute Frage, nächste Frage!, Willi wills wissen von A–Z and Ein guter Grund zu feiern. Since 2013 he has been on the road in Germany with his live program Willis wilde Wege. Since January 2018 he has moderated the magazine Gut zu Wissen on BR Fernsehen.
