Media and communication

Germany boasts a free and broadly representative media world. Over the past few years, digitisation has significantly changed the way people utilise the media.

Smartphone user — © Alessandro Biascioli/stock.adobe.com

Insight

Guaranteed freedom of the press

Reporter und Journalisten — © wellphoto - stock.adobe.com

The freedom of the press and freedom of expression are among the nation’s most important basic principles.

Overview

The media sector

Around 63 million people in Germany are online, and daily newspapers are increasing their digital reach, too. In terms of media usage, however, television and radio continue to play the biggest role.

Fernsehprogramme auf Bildschirmen — © Getty Images/iStockphoto

Radio and television

The extremely wide-ranging media in Germany are organised according to the dual principle of public-sector and private broadcasters.

Newspapers and magazines

Thanks to their digital editions, newspapers are seeing ever greater circulation, although the number of printed copies sold continues to fall.

Digital media

The Internet is fundamentally changing the media landscape in Germany too.

1945

After the end of Nazi rule, in Germany initially newspapers may only appear under Allied licence. In the US zone of occupation the first licence is awarded on 1 August 1945 to the Frankfurter Rundschau.

1950

The six West German broadcasting houses agree in Bremen to join forces to form the “Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland,” or ARD broadcaster.

1984

In Ludwigshafen the Programm-gesellschaft für Kabel- und Satellitenrundfunk, or PKS for short, starts broadcasting. This marks the birth of private TV channels in Germany.

1995

The first German newspaper, namely the leftist/liberal taz, goes online only six years after the foundation of the World Wide Web. After its go-live, the membership of the digitaz community surges.

1997

About 4.1 million German citizens over the age of 14 use the new online access channels at least occasionally. In 2014, the figure rises to around 55.6 million, or 79.1 percent of the over-14s in Germany.

2022

2022

Around 93% of people in Germany (78 million) are online, and 87% use social media (73 million). The average user has five accounts. There are 118 million mobile phones for 83.2 million people.