


The popularity of RTL and its channel VOX lies in a mix of reality TV such as the dating show Bauer sucht Frau, popular American series and Formula 1. The children’s channel operated by ARD and ZDF educates and entertains children with shows like KiKANiNCHEN for the little ones or Schloss Einstein for teens. The public European culture channel ARTE promotes understanding among Europeans through high-quality, creative content in French and German. WDR contributes a great deal to the programming of ARD and is known for classics like the Rockpalast for music fans or the Sendung mit der Maus for children. Other examples are the NDR, MDR, SWR, SR and Radio Bremen. The WDR, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, is one of the biggest of the many regional German TV channels. No German television experience is complete without the traditional entertainment show Wetten, dass…? 3. A good place to learn about the German political landscape. The news program Heute addresses a slightly younger audience than the news on ARD and positions ZDF among the favorite German news channels. The centrally organized ZDF was the first competitor of the ARD and is therefore also known as Das Zweite (the Second). The same goes for the German football team’s games. The crime series Tatort, broadcasted since the 70s, is also one of the best series to learn German. The daily news program Tagesschau and the Tagesthemen on the weekend make it one of the most important German news channels. The ARD is a consortium of regional German public broadcasters also known as Das Erste (the First).
#Das zweite mediathek license
So don’t forget to obtain your TV (and radio) license GEZ, when you register your address in Germany. While the commercial channels fund themselves through advertisement, the public channels rely on a broadcasting fee. German public television is the root of German television, but it wouldn’t be complete without the most popular commercial channels. The eight most popular German TV channels 1984, advertisement-funded RTL and SAT 1 opened the market for many more commercial channels to follow.1967 saw the beginning of color TV in Germany.1963, the ZDF directed its program for the first time to all of Germany.

