Germany media guide

German newspapers report the storming of the US Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump

Germany's competitive television market is the largest in Europe, with more than 38 million TV households.

The many regional and national public broadcasters - organised in line with the federal political structure - vie for audiences with powerful commercial operators. Each of Germany's 16 regions regulates its own private and public broadcasting.

The national public broadcasters are TV networks Das Erste and ZDF, and Deutschlandradio. Public TV and radio are funded by a "broadcasting contribution" paid by each household. Deutsche Welle (DW) is Germany's international broadcaster.

Germany is home to some of the world's largest media conglomerates, including Bertelsmann and the publisher Axel Springer. The top free-to-air commercial TV networks are operated by RTL Group and ProSiebenSat1 Media.

Germans are avid newspaper readers and the non-tabloid press is a trusted news source. There are several national newspapers, but the press is strongest at the regional and local level. Bild tabloid is the best-selling daily.

Media freedom is enshrined in the constitution. While the press and broadcasters are free and independent, the display of swastikas and statements endorsing Nazism are illegal.

There were 79.1 million internet users by July 2022, comprising 94% of the population (Internetworldstats.com). The leading social network is Facebook, with more than 46 million users.

• Media guides by BBC Monitoring

Press

• Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - prestigious daily

• Sueddeutsche Zeitung - Munich-based daily

• Die Welt - Berlin-based daily

• Frankfurter Rundschau - Frankfurt am Main-based daily

• Handelsblatt - Duesseldorf-based financial daily

• Focus - weekly news magazine

• Der Spiegel - news weekly, English-language site

• Die Zeit - weekly

• Bild - mass-circulation daily

• The Local - Berlin-based, English-language

Television

• ARD - organisation of regional public broadcasters; operates Das Erste, the main national public TV channel

• ZDF - operates second national public TV channel

• n-tv - commercial, rolling-news

• Welt - commercial, rolling news

• RTL - major commercial broadcaster

• ProSiebenSat.1 - major commercial broadcaster

• DW-TV - public, international; in German, English, Spanish, Arabic

• Sky - pay-TV operator

Radio

• ARD - umbrella organisation of public radio services, including those of individual regions

• Deutschlandradio - operates national public stations Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandradio Kultur, both offering current affairs and cultural programmes

• Deutsche Welle - international radio, services in many languages

News agency

• Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa)