“You should never lean back”

Munich The outgoing ARD chairman Tom Buhrow rejects a merger of ARD and ZDF. This is a political discussion and has nothing to do with the channel reform, he says in the Handelsblatt conversation: “ARD will not become ZDF, and ZDF will not become ARD.” It is clear that the two broadcasting groups are now cooperating better, for example at the media library. The WDR director also says: “We’re not digging in there. We affirm change. Organizational structures must not determine the view of our product. ”From 2022 he will be deputy chairman of ARD, the chairmanship will change to RBB director Patricia Schlesinger in Berlin.

With a view to the small budget of an additional 25 million euros in response to streaming services such as Netflix, Buhrow says: “You can always say that you need more. This is now the starting shot for our digital program offensive. But every ARD station has also committed to invest in the community program. A giant step! “

In addition, they cooperate more closely with partners, for example with Sky for productions such as “Babylon Berlin” and with Deutsche Telekom for major football tournaments: “We have the saying: sharing is the new having.” When asked about future advertising in public media libraries, says Buhrow: “We can’t plan with it. You have to see, of course, that other third-party platforms in the area of ​​our products generate advertising revenues on the Internet. But that flows into international coffers. “

The WDR director explicitly speaks out against “attitude journalism”. “Reeducation” for democracy lasted until the 1970s, but today people can no longer be steered in this way. He expresses sympathy for the new edition of a left-right dispute format such as “Hauser & Kienzle” on ZDF: “We are considering how we can implement this in 2022. The opinion of the two journalists was clear, but they had to get along afterwards. Something like that is missing in the irritable mood in Germany. “

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Read the entire interview here:

Mr. Buhrow, the new federal government wants to “dare to make more progress”. Did you think of ARD?
(Laughs) Absolutely. That’s almost our headline all these days.

You are now spreading optimism about purpose.
No not at all. The community always has to come together for something new. Nine individual regional broadcasters of the ARD are a critical mass. That is only possible if there is a consensus.

As ARD chairman, were you the greatest reformer?
Reforms – that was our common goal. It was largely redeemed. The whole of ARD is in a major reform process: first and foremost with the modernization of the program, which is now also bringing regional stories into the national news broadcasts. But also with the generation change of the management team of Mediathek and Das Erste, with the strengthening of our platforms such as Mediathek and Audiothek. That goes right up to the common streaming network with ZDF. At the beginning I seemed to be alone with it. This project is very important to me.

You even forecast a large, joint public service media library for 2030. Does your passion for innovation go so far that ARD and ZDF are then one company?
No. It is important that users experience public law as a universe. That does not call into question the two groups of stations and the diversity that this brings with it. The ARD is a network of regional units, also on the radio, that is our essence. We don’t come from a broadcasting center, we are already there. We are neighbors and part of the community.

In the ARD “Tagesthemen”

Buhrow moderated the “Tagesthemen” from 2006 to 2013.

(Photo: dpa)

The CDU’s SME Union, for example, calls for all public broadcasters to be organized under one holding.
This is a political discussion and has nothing to do with the broadcasting reform. The federal states are currently discussing how to proceed under the heading “Order and structural optimization”. That is good and important. German society, represented by politics, will tell us what it wants from us.

Why should a merger of ARD and ZDF be unthinkable in the medium term? The BBC only exists in one organization.
ARD will not become ZDF, ZDF will not become ARD. It is clear that we are continuing our reform efforts and that the two broadcasting groups are now cooperating much better.

“If Netflix just spends half a billion dollars, that’s an announcement”

Is that enough in a radically changed media landscape? US corporations such as Netflix, Amazon or Disney address the German audience directly with their streaming services.
As for the broader broadcasting landscape, it is a political decision. We don’t bury ourselves in there. We affirm change. However, organizational structures must not determine how our product is viewed. The audience has the final say. Corona was a great test for us. We passed it in full. There were huge increases in the odds …

… but companies like Netflix are now setting the tone.
Wait a minute, not only for our information programs, but also for our media library, the demand has increased enormously, especially for series. And don’t forget the extremely important role radio played in this era. Of course, many have now learned how to do it with streaming services. That accelerates the pressure to innovate for us. We had already taken this path before Corona. In the past, the ARD media library was just an overflow pool, now it is an independent pillar with its own boss.

Formats like “The Crown” or “The Mandalorian” by the US giants are the talk of the day.
Definitely in big cities. When Netflix just spends half a billion dollars on new products, that’s a special announcement. We responded to this in the summer with an ARD program reform, an enlarged budget and a new strategy. Don’t worry, we will come up with highlights in the ARD media library. We have already had great success with series such as “Babylon Berlin” or “Charité”.

You have shoveled an extra budget of a little more than 25 million euros a year for such media library hits. Pretty little.
You can always say: you still need more. This is now the starting shot for our digital program offensive. But every ARD station has also committed to invest in the community program. A giant step!

“We have many formats in which we sometimes experiment to the limit”

In the media scene there are initiatives to give five percent of the production funds from ARD and ZDF directly to authors, creatives and documentary filmmakers. The bureaucratic “editor’s television” would block innovations.
It’s an old cliché that people like to spread. Some have the brilliant idea, and others prevent it with their bureaucratism. This was already discussed 25 years ago in the film “Rossini” by Heiner Lauterbach, who plays a film producer there. He criticizes the “Sparkasse lummel”, but actually only wants more money. In truth, ARD has many formats such as “Tatort”, in which we sometimes experiment to the limit. Or take the new regional series competition from WDR and NDR. Here we support innovative ideas with a budget and advise on developing the concept and script.

The ARD and its partners had to close their respected institute for broadcast technology. Will there be further exits or sales?
That is not planned for the end of my time as ARD chairman.

What about production companies like Bavaria, where WDR is a major shareholder and you are the chairman of the supervisory board? Are you looking for buyers?
For some time now, you have seen the trend towards vertical integration in the industry around the world – from conception to production to license sales, everything should be in one hand. Why should we decide to look for producers exclusively on the free market in future?

Do you want to think more in terms of value chains, also to strengthen the media libraries?
Yes, that is obvious. The exploitation of rights, for example, is becoming more important and creates space for new programs. The subsidiaries must of course be well run and well supervised. In the business world, you can always do everything more efficiently. You should never lean back and say: “It’s good now!” This is how we cooperate more and more with partners. Sky and ARD financed “Babylon Berlin”. And with Deutsche Telekom, we use rights to the world and European football championships in a network. The saying goes around us: sharing is the new having.

The federal states are talking about receiving only Das Erste, ZDF, the third programs, 3Sat and Arte as full programs on linear TV. Special interest channels should switch to digital or phase out.
We wait to see what politics will decide in the end. The public broadcasters have the task of providing information, culture, education and entertainment. Nevertheless, we always have to be agile. And society is very sensitive, for example when it comes to cultural assignments.

What about the advertising funding? Will we see spots in the ARD and ZDF media libraries that are still ad-free?
We cannot therefore plan for the public telemedia offerings. You have to see, of course, that other third-party platforms in the area of ​​our products generate advertising revenues on the Internet. But that flows into international coffers.

“We are paid by everyone and want to do a program for everyone”

Mr. Buhrow, how do you feel about the dispute over “attitude journalism”? Editors and reporters should stand up for values ​​such as diversity or non-discrimination.
The topic occupies all artistic directors. In the post-war period we had an educational role. The Nazi dictatorship had to be mastered consciously and democracy introduced. “Reeducation” lasted until the 1970s, here and there there may still be remnants. Today, however, you could no longer steer people one way or the other. There are just too many sources of information.

They also want to reach the currywurst eater at the kiosk …
… Naturally. We are paid by everyone and want to do a program for everyone. When we recently surveyed people for the first time in the “ARD Future Dialog”, we heard very often how important a variety of opinions and information is to them. That we should report impartially and from many perspectives. We cannot ignore that.

Advent concert

Buhrow speaks at the Advent concert of the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia.

(Photo: dpa)

Are there no prominent conservative minds, like Gerhard Löwenthal earlier with his “ZDF-Magazin”?
The “topics of the day” sometimes bring a pro and a contra comment on a topic. This is a good start. We have to keep experimenting there. I once felt the left-right format with “Hauser & Kienzle” on ZDF as democratizing. The opinion of the two journalists was clear, but they had to get along afterwards. Something like that is missing in the irritable mood in Germany. We are considering how we can implement this suggestion from the public in 2022. Retro is okay, but it has to be for today.

Mr. Buhrow, thank you for talking to us.

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