Saxony's Media Minister and Head of the State Chancellery Oliver Schenk (CDU) rejected the increase in transmission tariffs proposed by the independent KEF commission from January 1, 2025.

At Wednesday's “Medientage Mitteldeutschland” in Leipzig, Schenk said: “You have to be honest, that's not going to happen.”

Schenk believes there is currently not broad support for increasing contributions

The moderator of the round, Michaela Kolster, programming director of the events channel Phoenix on ARD and ZDF, then explained that Schenk “called for a violation of the Constitution as Minister of State.”

Schenk also advised public broadcasters not to sue the Federal Constitutional Court over the increased contributions. “Of course they are free to do so, they would probably win, but it would be a Pyrrhic victory that would further reduce the acceptance of public broadcasting,” Schenk said.

Schenk calls for reforms as a first step before increasing contributions

Rather, states would have to quickly take the next reform steps and present a reform treaty before the end of the year, on the basis of which the amount of contributions could be recalculated. “Now we have to carry out the reform and then we can talk about financing again,” Schenk said. For this to happen there must be a “reasonable savings potential.” The financing of the institutions has been guaranteed since 2020 by reserves from additional income from broadcasting rights.

The president of the ZDF television board, Marlehn Thieme, explained that Schenk needed “circles oriented towards the rule of law to go to the Federal Constitutional Court.” The committee chair called on politicians to “check whether they are doing a favor to the democratic mission of the ÖRR” if the constitutional procedure for determining contributions is abandoned.

MDR director wants to sue for premium increase if necessary

According to the procedure confirmed by the Federal Constitutional Court in several rulings, the commission for determining the financial needs of broadcasting organizations (KEF), consisting of independent experts, calculates the amount of the contribution. This recommendation is binding on the federal states and can only be modified in exceptional cases.

The director of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), Ralf Ludwig, explained at the meeting that he still hopes that the contribution will increase to the amount recommended by the KEF of 18.94 euros per month. Ludwig had already stated that, if necessary, he would file a lawsuit in Karlsruhe. The contribution is currently 18.36 euros.