ARD: Disturbances on the television station

On the evening of September 12th there were apparently blackouts at ARD. Many users report problems with TV reception to our ARD fault detector. There are also difficulties playing content and the ARD media library.

The cause is currently still unclear. The problem may not be with the ARD itself, but with the reception method – for example your TV provider via cable or satellite. However, there is a solution that we have successfully recreated in the editorial team:

If you have an existing internet connection, you can still receive ARD as a live stream. We’ll tell you how below!

This is how you receive ARD in the live stream

The easiest way to receive ARD as a live stream is to subscribe to one of the following online TV services. This not only means you have a full stream, but you can also watch it legally. We advise you against illegal or dubious offers.

With these TV streaming apps you can watch the ARD live stream online – sometimes without registration and for free.

Reading tip: In our guide “Television over the Internet” we offer you a comprehensive overview of the best legal Internet TV providers in Germany. There you can also find out how the individual services performed in our test, which packages are free and who broadcasts which channels.

Watch the ARD live stream online in your browser

You can find all legal live streams from ARD here on this page. Unless otherwise stated, you do not need to register or pay for the stream.

Since all streams run directly in the browser, you can start the stream on a laptop and connect it to the television. With the appropriate resolution and bandwidth, you can get a full-fledged picture on your television. Alternatively, you can make your television “smart” and then start the stream directly on the television using the integrated browser.

Current disruption map from ARD

This outage map was last updated on September 29, 2023 at 5:36 p.m. You can find a more current version in our fault reporter for ARD. We will also try to help you – as far as possible – to resolve the problem.

Fault detector from netzwelt.de

We continually measure the availability of ARD’s servers and services and show you any problems or disruptions. Here you can find the current fault status for ARD, support addresses and reports from the manufacturer about this problem. There you can also see whether the disruption is a local or national problem.

You can always see current disruptions and problems in our fault reporter. There we list the most important internet providers, network providers, online games and streaming services for you. You can also use our speed test to check whether there is a problem with your own line.