ARD (broadcaster)
ARD is a joint organisation of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters. It was founded in 1950 in West Germany to represent the common interests of the new, decentralised, post-war broadcasting services – in particular the introduction of a joint television network. The ARD has a budget of €6.9 billion, 22,612 employees and is the largest public broadcaster network in the world. The budget comes primarily from a mandatory licence fee which every household, company and public institution, regardless of television ownership, is required by law to pay. For an ordinary household the fee is €18.36 per month, as of 2023. Households living on welfare are exempt from the fee. The fees are not collected directly by the ARD, but by the Beitragsservice, a common organisation by the ARD member broadcasters, the second public TV broadcaster ZDF, and Deutschlandradio. ARD maintains and operates a national television network, called Das Erste to differentiate it from ZDF, a.k.a. "das Zweite", which started in 1963, as a separate public TV broadcaster. The ARD network began broadcasting on 31 October 1954 under the name of Deutsches Fernsehen, becoming Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen with a corporate redesign in 1984; it adopted its current short name in 1994. ARD's programmes are aired over its own terrestrial broadcast network, as well as via cable, satellite and IPTV. ARD also produces two free-to-air channels and participates in the production of Phoenix, KiKa (kids-oriented), 3sat (cultural-oriented), arte, and Funk. ARD's programming is produced by its regional members, which operate 54 regional and local radio stations and seven regional TV networks, some of which have opt-outs at during the day. Deutsche Welle, Germany's international broadcaster, is also a member of ARD.
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