Archive notice: This article was originally published on July 9, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
For individual projects, however, the goal had not yet been achieved, the ZDF Director General said. For example, it had not been possible to reduce the average age of ZDF viewers, although individual programmes had helped move closer to that goal. The programme mix continued to be a distinctive feature of public-service broadcaster ZDF’s programming concept, Schächter explained. Programme diversity, with information accounting for around 50 percent, shaped the main channel; with around 26 percent cultural reporting, 11 percent science programming and almost seven percent concert and stage performances, 3sat displayed a pronounced cultural profile. Plays, musical-theatre performances and concerts alone account for almost 40 percent of ZDFtheaterkanal’s airtime.
The ZDF channels had covered the key issues of current affairs comprehensively and contributed to culture, the ZDF Director General concluded. The range of subjects extended from healthcare reform, European integration, climate change and the integration of migrants to developments in global political hotspots and the examination of Germany’s divided past. Schächter said: “ZDF programmes have provided impetus for public discussion and remembrance.” More than 300 prizes and awards for ZDF programmes in the previous year alone demonstrated that the broadcaster had succeeded in creating widely recognized quality productions of lasting value and setting new thematic priorities.
It had also succeeded in advancing the quality and depth of its information services through even better graphic support and accompanying online features. Viewers already recognized the explanatory strength of ZDF programming to a high degree. Programming focuses spanning several broadcasts and days had given socially significant subjects the necessary public attention.
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According to the voluntary commitment, culture is one of the guiding principles of ZDF’s programming work. ZDF also applies this to its own medium and aims to contribute to television culture. In 2007/2008, the broadcaster again offered the most extensive classical-music schedule of any main channel, featuring high-profile events. These included broadcasts of the New Year’s Concert and the Baden-Baden opera gala featuring international stars, as well as the programme formats “Klassik Kids” and “Eine große Nachtmusik.” Through the literary talk show “Lesen!” and extensive coverage of the Leipzig and Frankfurt book fairs, ZDF fulfils its role as a leading medium for the industry. Culture was a cross-cutting subject not only across channels but also across genres, Schächter stressed. In addition to the cultural magazines “aspekte” and “Kulturzeit,” ZDF’s news programmes report on cultural life several times a week. Six and eight percent respectively of the airtime on “heute” and “heute-journal” is devoted to science and culture. The same applies to programmes about education, knowledge and consumer information. Subjects such as climate change, energy and genetic engineering had been covered continuously and prominently in knowledge and science programmes in recent years. In service programmes, the editorial teams see themselves as advocates for the public on all consumer issues.
