With the channel privilege, TV channels in Germany should be found in a clear order, measured by their social value. We reveal what that means for you.
In the MagentaTV EPG, the programs are already in the order prescribed by the new rule. (Source: Richard W. Schaber)
- According to the State Media Treaty, TV, radio and digital offers with “social added value” should be easy to find.
- A list of the recommended order of programs on media platforms is already fixed.
- On the smart TV, this means, for example, that ARD and ZDF should come before the home programs of the private broadcasters.
In June 2023, the programs on your smart TV or in the TV streaming app could suddenly switch places. Because currently the so-called privileging of media offers according to the media state treaty (§ 84 Abs. 7 MStV) occurs – and this forces platform operators to a strict hierarchy in the order of channels.
If the stations suddenly appear in a different order in your EPG or the channel selection for TV streaming, this is not an error or even the arbitrariness of Waipu.tv, Zattoo or MagentaTV. The providers are simply obliged to comply with the rules that are now coming into force.
Individual order is still possible
With waipu.tv, however, the first TV streaming service is already giving the all-clear: If you have already devised an individual channel sequence, it will not be deleted. Without existing personal sorting or with new accounts, the sender privilege will now find its way into all providers.
If you still want to sort your channels again, you can still do so – because the media state treaty even stipulates that this must continue to be possible without obstacles, despite the channel privilege.
Fixed order for programs: This is what broadcaster privilege is all about
The State Media Treaty passed in 2020 stipulates that public service and other media offerings classified as particularly relevant must always be easy to find on TV sets and digital platforms. In detail, this means that ARD and ZDF have priority over the large private channels RTL and Sat.1 when sorting channels, and should therefore be found in the long-established program slots 1 and 2.
The so-called “third programs” that were on program slot 3 on grandmother’s tube television with indoor antenna are the TV programs of the individual ARD broadcasting corporations – i.e. WDR, NDR and Co. According to the recommendation list of the media authorities, these third parties are now further down the list than the large private broadcasters , for which there is a simple reason:
While the news and thus the relevant range of information on the main channels of RTL and Sat.1 have a supra-regional connection, the third programs with their more regional focus are further down the line. In other words, public before private, but also nationwide before regional – at least on TV.
Depending on the location, the locally relevant broadcaster such as WDR for Cologne or MDR in Leipzig finds its place in the upper middle field, while the remaining third parties are far behind in the program. Even before that come permanent private news stations, special interest programs from public and private broadcasters, children’s stations and sports programs.
Station privilege in the audio area: Local has the right of way in the car radio
When sorting radio stations via a car radio, devices at home or audio streaming platforms, the local program with its news and traffic reports is actually at the top of the list. The principle of sorting the TV programs is reversed here: local and regional before national.
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