There is uncontrolled growth in public service broadcasting. More than 20 TV stations are now vying for viewers’ attention. The jagged offer also continues online in the media libraries. WDR program director Jörg Schönenborn no longer wants to accept this. His proposal is radical – and would ultimately lead to the end of the media libraries of ARD, ZDF and Co.
Fewer and fewer people are still watching classic, linear television. Young people in particular prefer streaming so that they can decide for themselves what to watch and when. The public TV broadcasters, who have massively expanded their online offering in recent years, know this too. Consequence of online expansion: wild growth. One media center follows the next. One central contact point for viewers is missing. WDR program director Jörg Schönenborn wants to change that.
WDR program director wants uniform public media library
Schönenborn endorses one single large media library, which contains all public service broadcasters. “I think we owe society one big portal at some point. An entrance that leads to all public-law content,” the WDR manager told the German Press Agency (dpa).
The 58-year-old’s proposals are radical. Ultimately, they would result in ARD, ZDF and Co. giving up their own media libraries and build a new, shared online home. “My vision is that the public has an address for good, valuable public law content,” explains Schönenborn (source: heise). There must be “a portal, a door, an entrance”.
On such a portal each broadcaster then have their own offer. But that’s not all: In the political journalist’s vision, such a streaming platform is also suitable for offering space to “other players, for example from the cultural sector”.
There is stiff competition in the streaming market:
No concrete plans for a uniform ÖRR media library
So far, Schönenborn’s proposals are just that: proposals. Whether and when there will be a uniform ÖRR media library, so remains unclear. However, such an all-round carefree package would certainly be desirable for viewers – as long as they don’t have to pay extra for it. After all, ARD and ZDF agreed to work more closely with their media libraries last year.