ZDF

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ZDF

Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen ("Second German Television"), ZDF, is a public-service German

German television

As the world's fourth largest economy and with the largest population in the European Union, Germany today offers a vast diversity of television stations....
television channel

Television channel

A television channel is a physical or virtual channel over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the broadcast or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with carrier wave frequencies of 55.25 MHz for NTSC analog video and 59.75 MHz for analog audio , or 55.31 MHz for digi...
based in Mainz

Mainz

Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the Germany States of Germany of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was a politically important seat of the Prince-elector of Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman Empire fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine River and formed part of the northernmost frontier of th...
. It is run as an independent non-profit agency established by joint contract between the German federal states

States of Germany

Germany is a federation consisting of sixteen states, known in German language as L?nder . Since Land is the literal German word for "country", the term Bundesl?nder is commonly used colloquially, as it is more specific, though technically incorrect within the corpus of German law....
(Bundesländer). ZDF is funded from a television licence

Television licence

A television licence is an official licence required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts. It is a form of hypothecation tax to fund public broadcasting, thus allowing public broadcasters to transmit programmes without, or with only supplemental, funding from Radio commercial and television commercials....
and advertising .

The station began broadcasting on 1 April 1963 from Eschborn

Eschborn

Eschborn is a suburb of Frankfurt in the Main-Taunus district, Hesse, Germany. As of 2004, it had a population of 20,580, but boasts fulltime employment of over 30,000 people....
.

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Encyclopedia

Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen ("Second German Television"), ZDF, is a public-service German

German television

As the world's fourth largest economy and with the largest population in the European Union, Germany today offers a vast diversity of television stations....
television channel

Television channel

Mainz

States of Germany

Television licence

Eschborn

Eschborn is a suburb of Frankfurt in the Main-Taunus district, Hesse, Germany. As of 2004, it had a population of 20,580, but boasts fulltime employment of over 30,000 people....
. The channel broadcast its first programme in colour

Color

Color or colour is the visual perception property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, yellow, blue and others....
in 1967. In 1974 ZDF moved its base of operations to Mainz-Lerchenberg, after briefly being located in Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden is a city in southwestern Germany and the capital of the States of Germany of Hesse. It has about 300,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 35,000 United States citizens ....
.

Transmission and reception

Antenna

As ZDF is a channel, not a network, the channel is broadcast without any regional variation or affiliates throughout the country, using a number of signal repeaters. Prior to the reunification of Germany, ZDF, like ARD

ARD (broadcaster)

ARD , is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters. It was founded in West Germany in 1950 to represent the common interests of the new, decentralized post-war broadcasting services — in particular, the introduction of a joint television network....
, positioned many of its transmitters in locations favourable to its broadcasts being easily receivable in extensive areas of the GDR

German Democratic Republic

The German Democratic Republic was a self-declared socialist state created in the Soviet Zone of occupied Germany and the East Berlin of Allied Occupation Zones in Germany....
, where both channels were viewed by large parts of the population.

Starting in 2002 and expected to be completed in late 2008, the ZDF transmitters have been switched from analogue to digital signal. Digitally, the ZDF mux

Mux

mux was a windowing system developed by Rob Pike at Bell Labs for the Version 9 Unix. mux is a predecessor of the Plan 9 from Bell Labs windowing systems 8? and Rio , which retain its minimalist Graphical user interface....
contains the ZDF itself, 3sat

3sat

3sat is the name of a public, advertising-free, television network in Central Europe. The programming is in German, and is broadcast primarily within Germany, Austria and Switzerland....
, ZDFinfokanal (ZDF's news channel), KI.KA

KI.KA

KI.KA is a public commercial-free television channel based in Erfurt, Germany. It is a joint venture of national public television channels ARD and ZDF, and is targeted at children and youth....
(children's channel; daytime only), ZDFdokukanal (ZDF documentary channel; nighttime only).

ZDF does not run any transmitters itself. Throughout the analogue days, all of the ZDF transmitters had been run by the Deutsche Bundespost

Deutsche Bundespost

The Deutsche Bundespost was created in 1947 as a successor to the Reichspost . Between 1947 and 1950 the enterprise was called Deutsche Post ....
which was later privatized as Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telekom Aktiengesellschaft is a telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is the largest telecommunications company in Germany and in the European Union....
's subsidiary T-Systems Media Broadcast. (This is in contrast to the other public German broadcaster, ARD

ARD (broadcaster)

ARD , is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters. It was founded in West Germany in 1950 to represent the common interests of the new, decentralized post-war broadcasting services — in particular, the introduction of a joint television network....
, which owns its main transmitters.) Due to recent laws, the ZDF had not been allowed to use ARD's transmitters. As the law has changed in the 1990s, since the digital switchover the ZDF uses both ARD and Telekom transmitters.

Cable

ZDF has also been relayed by cable

Cable television

Cable television is a system of providing television to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through fixed optical fibers or coaxial cables as opposed to the over-the-air method used in traditional television broadcasting in which a television antenna is required....
since the days of the first cable pilot projects.

Satellite

The first Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
-wide satellite

Satellite television

Satellite television is television delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by a satellite dish and set-top box. In many areas of the world it provides a wide range of channels and services, often to areas that are not serviced by terrestrial television or cable television providers....
broadcast via Astra 1C

Astra 1C

Astra 1C was the third communications satellite launched by the Soci?t? Europ?enne des Satellites , now SES Astra. It is the oldest Astra satellite still in operation, although it currently carries no services....
began in August 1993 during the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin

Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin

The IFA or Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin is one of the oldest industrial exhibitions in Germany. Between 1926 and 1939 it was an annual event, but as from 1950 it was organized on a two yearly basis until 2005....
(IFA - "International Broadcasting Exhibition") in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
. In the same decade, these new technologies were used to enable the start of digital

Digital television

Digital television is the sending and receiving of moving images and sound by Discrete signal signals, in contrast to the Analog television used by analog TV....
broadcasting of ZDF. Today, ZDF is available free-to-air throughout Europe.

Other ZDF channels

ZDF also operates the channels KI.KA
KI.KA

KI.KA is a public commercial-free television channel based in Erfurt, Germany. It is a joint venture of national public television channels ARD and ZDF, and is targeted at children and youth....
, arte
Arte

Arte is a Franco-German TV network. It describes itself as a European culture channel and aims to promote quality programming especially in areas of culture and the arts....
, 3sat
3sat

3sat is the name of a public, advertising-free, television network in Central Europe. The programming is in German, and is broadcast primarily within Germany, Austria and Switzerland....
and Phoenix
Phoenix (German TV station)

Phoenix is a publicly-funded television station in Germany which is jointly held by the public broadcasting organizations ARD and ZDF. Its programming consists of documentaries, news broadcasts, special events coverage, and discussion programmes....
in cooperation with other networks. Included in its digital offering ZDFvision are the channels ZDFdokukanal, ZDFinfokanal and ZDFtheaterkanal. Today ZDF is Europe's largest television network.

Design

ZDF's animated

Animation

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. It is an optical illusion of Motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in a number of ways....
station identity mascot

Mascot

The term mascot ? defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck ? colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or Brand....
s, the Mainzelmännchen (a play with the words "Mainz" and "Heinzelmännchen

Heinzelmännchen

The Heinzelm?nnchen are a race of creatures appearing in a tale connected with the city of Cologne in Germany.The little house gnomes are said to have done all the work of the citizens of Cologne during the night, so that the inhabitants of Cologne could be very lazy during the day....
"), created by Wolf Gerlach in 1963, quickly became exceptionally popular and are still shown in between commercials. In 1976 graphic designer Otl Aicher

Otl Aicher

Otl Aicher, also known as Otto Aicher was one of the leading Germany graphic designers of the 20th century.Aicher was a classmate and friend of Werner Scholl, and through him met Werner's family, including his siblings Hans Scholl and Sophie Scholl, both of whom would be executed in 1943 for their membership in the White Rose resista...
made a corporate design for ZDF.

Administration

Administratively ZDF is headed by a director general (Intendant), who is elected by the ZDF Television Council, the composition of which is in turn determined by the "societally relevant groups" named in the ZDF contract. Since the founding of the network in 1963, the following have held the office of Intendant:

1963 - 1977: Karl Holzamer
Karl Holzamer

Johannes Karl Holzamer was a German Philosophy, Pedagogy and former director general of the German television station ZDF....
1977 - 1982: Karl-Günter von Hase
1982 - 2002: Dieter Stolte
since 2002: Markus Schächter

In the ZDF-TV is also: Erika Steinbach (President of the Confederation of displaced BdV). Erika Steinbach, mainly in Poland and the Czech Republic for their political positions criticized.

Membership

ZDF was admitted as a full active member of the European Broadcasting Union

European Broadcasting Union

The European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 75 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 43 associate broadcasters from a further 25....
in 1963.

Programmes

Aktenzeichen XY... ungelöst
Aktenzeichen XY... ungelöst

Aktenzeichen XY ? ungel?st is a German television broadcast since October 1967 on ZDF that aims to combat and solve crimes. Until 2003 it was produced in co-operation with the Austrian public service broadcaster ORF and Schweizer Fernsehen, a division of the Swiss public broadcaster SRG SSR id?e suisse....
The Bold And The Beautiful
The Bold and the Beautiful

The Bold and the Beautiful is an American television soap opera. Set in Los Angeles, California, the show centers around the Forrester family and their Haute couture business Forrester Creations....
(Reich & Schön)
Derrick
Derrick (TV series)

Derrick is a Germany TV series produced by Telenova Film- und Fernsehproduktion in association with ZDF, ORF and SRG SSR id?e suisse between 1974 and 1998 about Detective Chief Inspector Stephan Derrick and his loyal assistant Inspector Harry Klein , who solve murder cases in Munich and surroundings ....
(cancelled)
Disco
Disco (TV series)

Disco was a pop music program that aired in Germany on the ZDF network from 1971 to 1982. It generally aired each Saturday night at 7:30PM, running 45 minutes each week....
Ein Fall für Zwei
Ein Fall für Zwei

Ein Fall f?r Zwei is a Germany detective show series.The series, which is situated in Frankfurt am Main, began in 1981 and is still on-going....
heute
Heute

heute is a news television program on the German television channel ZDF. The main show is broadcast at 7PM, consisting of news of the day, weather forecasts and sports....
(Newscast)
Kultnacht
Der Kommissar (cancelled)
The Old Fox
The Old Fox

'The Old Fox' is a Germany television series created in 1976, now running for over three decades.It depicts the crime solving activities of three police detectives, Kommissar Erwin K?ster, played by Siegfried Lowitz until 1985, from 1986 until 2006 Chief Inspector Leo Kress, played by Rolf Schimpf and from 2007 Chief Inspector Rolf...
(Der Alte)
Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars

Veronica Mars is an American television series created by Rob Thomas . The series premiered on September 22, 2004, during UPN's last two years, and ended on May 22, 2007, after a season on UPN's successor, The CW Television Network....
Wetten, dass..?
Wetten, dass..?

Wetten, dass..? is a German language game and entertainment TV show. It is the most successful television show in Europe.The shows are broadcast live six to seven times a year from different cities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and can easily attract 50% and more of all German speaking Europe on that evening....
The Young And The Restless
The Young and the Restless

The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera, first broadcast on CBS on March 26, 1973. It was created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, who set their show in a Genoa City of Genoa City, Wisconsin, a town near their annual vacation home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin....
(Schatten der Leidenschaft)
Jack Holborn
Jack Holborn

Jack Holborn was a 1982 ZDF Adventure TV mini-series. The story is based on the book by Leon Garfield....
(1982 mini-series)
Rockpop
Rock Pop Music Hall (cancelled)

Audience share (March 2008): 13.4%, from 14–49 years 7.1%.

Musicals

Die größten Musical Hits (The Greatest Musical Hits)

ZDF