Archive notice: This article was originally published on March 2, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
If advertising and sponsorship were abolished, the television licence fee would have to rise by 1.42 euros to compensate, Schächter explained in Düsseldorf on Friday. Revenue from advertising and sponsorship ensured at least a minimum of competition in the advertising market, strengthened the independence of public-service providers and was often a prerequisite for being allowed to bid at all for broadcasting rights to major sporting events.
Public debate sometimes overlooked the fact that the advertising industry itself strongly advocated retaining advertising opportunities on ZDF and ARD, Schächter said. Contrary to accounts presented publicly, private broadcasting groups were by no means dependent on public-service broadcasters’ advertising revenue. The television advertising market in Germany had been experiencing a marked upturn since 2006, which had continued in 2007. Schächter: “Anyone targeting EBIT margins of up to 30 percent on the strength of a good economic position does not depend on the advertising revenue of public-service broadcasters”. In any case, it could not be assumed that current advertising bookings on ZDF and ARD would automatically transfer to private television providers if advertising were abandoned, since they addressed entirely different viewer groups.
Further information:
- ZDF
