Blackouts, reforms, and a streaming levy

Germany: Broadcasting reform treaty clears a crucial hurdle

By Dagmar Skopalik

The parliament in the German state of Saxony has passed a treaty that would reform public broadcasting, clearing one of the biggest obstacles to the reorganisation of German public media after years of negotiation. 

In Germany, it is not the federal government but the 16 states that are responsible for media policy. As such, each state parliament needs to approve the treaty. The vote in the Saxon state parliament was considered one of the biggest hurdles to adopting the Broadcasting Reform State Treaty. With the ruling CDU and SPD coalition lacking an outright majority, its passage was dependent on opposition votes. In the end, the bill was approved by 61 votes to 56.

According to the policy, this reform treaty is intended to make PSM leaner, more modern and more digital, while reducing costs. To this end, ARD and ZDF will be required to dismantle duplicate structures, reduce the number of radio and television offerings or move them online, and create a joint platform on which third parties can also network their offerings.

Critics, on the other hand, argue this treaty does not reform PSM, but rather restricts its scope for action. The diversity of its offerings will be significantly reduced. Added to this is the ban on ‘press-like’ texts in the broadcasters’ online offerings. The reform treaty does not make public service media future-proof, but rather weakens its position in the media landscape, they conclude.

The minister presidents agreed on the treaty in October 2024 and signed it in March this year. The state parliaments then had to ratify it, as it is the 16 federal states that are responsible for media policy, and each are governed by different coalitions.

The treaty is expected to come into force on 1 December 2025. Approval by the remaining state parliaments in Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg is assumed.

The financing of PSM was also to be reorganised this year. But since a planned increase in the household levy at the beginning of the year was rejected by three prime ministers – where unanimity is required – it was decided to freeze the fee for two years. ARD and ZDF subsequently lodged a complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court, but a ruling is not expected until 2026. Bavaria and Saxony do not intend to continue discussions on financing reform until after the ruling.

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Australia: Streamers mandated to pay for local content

Streaming services in Australia will be required to spend a certain share of their revenue on local productions, under new legislation to be introduced to parliament this week in an effort to level the playing field between multinational streamers and local broadcasters. It follows similar legislation passed in Canada last year. 

The new laws will require platforms with more than 1 million subscribers, such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon, to spend either 10 per cent of local expenditure, or 7.5 per cent of their Australian revenue, on locally made drama, documentary, arts, education and children’s programs.

The quota would mean Netflix, one of the largest services, would have to spend A$100m a year making or buying Australian programmes, according to the Australian Financial Review. 

The idea had been postponed last year over concerns about how they would affect Australia’s trade agreement with the United States. Arts minister Tony Burke said free-to-air and pay television were required to produce Australian content, but streaming services were under no such obligation.

“We want to make sure no matter which platform people are watching, Australian stories are part of their experience,” he said. 

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Uganda: Financial crisis sees month-long TV blackout

Free-to-air television stations in Uganda have been off air for nearly a month amid a crippling financial shortage at the national broadcaster, the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), and its affiliate, Signet Uganda, which handles the distribution of all free-to-air signals. 

Signet’s failure means many viewers who cannot afford paid television have endured a prolonged media blackout. 

The UBC’s efforts to restore service have been hampered by a cash squeeze that has led to unpaid taxes on critical equipment like transmitters and spare parts, which are now being held in the city of Entebbe.

Managing director Winston Agba has not pushed for a government bailout, due to reports that the Uganda Revenue Authority has previously treated the national broadcaster aggressively over tax arrears. 

“There was a time when URA came with seals, saying: ‘UBC, we are going to close you’. I raised arguments about this being a government institution, but was told that they had targets and were starting with us who were soft targets”, said Agba. 

The UBC, which also runs 11 radio stations, has long faced financial woes. The 2005 UBC Act, which established a television tax that never became operational, created a large debt  estimated at nearly 30 billion Ugandan shillings, including 7 billion to the URA and 3 billion in unpaid electricity bills to the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company. 

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US: Public media rollercoaster ploughs on

Public media in the US continues to experience a rollercoaster year, with the international media outlet Radio Free Asia announcing its newsroom was ‘on pause’. 

“Due to uncertain funding, Radio Free Asia is not delivering news to our audiences for the first time in our history,” executive editor Rosa Hwang said. 

It comes months after President Trump signed an executive order which revoked nearly all federal funding for the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the entity which funds broadcasters including RFA, VOA, RFE/RL and MBN. RFA had been using the courts to reclaim some of that funding. However, the newsroom’s closure was brought about by the ongoing Federal government shutdown. While its closure signifies another blow for US international public media and its audiences, Hwang promised it would not be the end: “Once our funding returns, so will we.” 

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It was also a decisive week for NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. NPR sued the nonprofit CPB, which had been responsible for distributing federal funding to local and national public media stations, over a breakdown in contract negotiations over the national radio satellite distribution system NPR operates. The contract had offered US$36 million for the next three years. 

In its court filings, NPR alleged the CPB had bowed to White House pressure and the board tried to rework the contract so it could only be granted to an entity independent of NPR. 

The CPB denied this. While a new five-year US$57 million contract was awarded to a consortium of different organisations called Public Media Infrastructure, the CPB argued this was due to “decades of studies by outside consultants” that pointed to the benefit of having “an independent entity that was more inclusive of the broad range of public media entities across the country”. 

An initial ruling from a federal judge was issued on 30 October, ordering the CPB to set aside US$36 million awaiting the conclusion of the case. NPR said it was “a significant milestone in our case to protect First Amendment rights for the public media system,” adding that it took the action reluctantly.

“CPB has been a crucial institution for the public media system, and we regret that they have chosen to comply with the Trump Administration’s unconstitutional, retaliatory, and viewpoint-based pressure campaign, with direct and harmful consequences to NPR Member stations, the interconnected stations and the public media system.” A trial is set for 1 December. 

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Poland: Major changes in the Broadcasting Act

The Polish government wants to abolish the broadcasting fee which funds public media, replacing it instead with direct state budget funding.

The proposal was part of a suite of measures in a draft bill introduced by culture minister Marta Cienkowska last week, aiming at “depoliticising” the public media system. They include new criteria for the appointment of public media authorities, the liquidation of the National Media Council, and limits on government advertising.

Instead of a licence fee, public broadcasters would be funded 2.5 billion złoty (€587 million) directly from the state budget. 

The National Media Council, a state agency created in 2016 and whose legality and independence has been questioned, will be taken over by the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT). 

The opposition has criticised Cienkowska’s initiative, saying it would only further anchor the government’s power over public broadcasters. The bill still needs the endorsement of the Parliament and President Nawrocki. 

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