Anyone who wants to watch the second game of the European Football Championship on television will search in vain on ARD and ZDF.
Only around four million people can watch Wales versus Switzerland on Saturday (3 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship and MagentaTV) because they are already a Telekom customer and pay for the MagentaTV service.
All other football fans still have to take out a fixed monthly subscription for ten euros: This is the only way they can watch the game and then have a free choice of all 51 European Championship games during the tournament.
The first and the second, however, only show 41 games.
The television world is getting more and more confusing, that becomes clear again at the EM. Since the conclusion of a complicated contract in the spring, it has been clear that ten European Championship games cannot be seen without additional costs. ARD and ZDF gave these games to Telekom in order to save the European Championship in three years. Because they had missed out on poker for the media rights for the EM 2024 in Germany. Instead, the Bonn-based company surprisingly secured the complete package from the European Football Union UEFA.
It was not until March that the telecommunications company shared these rights for 2024 with ARD and ZDF in an extensive contract - and in return it received broadcasting licenses for all matches at this year's European Championship and all games at the World Cup in the coming year, as well as a double-digit million sum.
"If you love football, you can't ignore MagentaTV," said Telekom manager Michael Hagspihl proudly at the presentation of the in-house European Championship program.
"That is absolutely bearable"
The first and the second will have to do without games in the coming weeks.
"If you look at the overall agreement - it was about transferring the Euro 2024 in your own country - then you have succeeded in getting an attractive program package at reasonable economic conditions," said ZDF sports director Thomas Fuhrmann: "What is now exclusive to Telekom can be seen, the ten group and parallel games, is absolutely bearable. "
Steffen Simon, the EM organizer of the ARD, expressed a similar opinion.
“This gave us the opportunity - economically and in terms of licensing law - to be at the EM in our own country in three years' time.
And of course that had a very high priority, ”he said.
Telekom has achieved a real coup with the deal, because no other broadcaster will be showing as many tournament games as MagentaTV in the years to come.
For this, the company bought rights for many millions and also invested heavily in the program.
On Tuesday, the new studio was presented in Ismaning, in which the company ThinXpool, as a service provider, will produce 160 hours of live during the EM.
In addition, Telekom has also bought celebrities.
The commentators include Wolff Fuss, who otherwise works for Sky, and Marco Hagemann from RTL.
Most of the EM broadcasts are hosted by Johannes B. Kerner, who works mainly for ZDF.
Deutsche Telekom is making a lot of effort. Ultimately, however - to put it simply - it's all about selling connections. The sports broadcasts on MagentaTV, which also include the German Ice Hockey League, the Basketball Bundesliga and the Third Football League, are a means to an end. Like the Champions League at the internet retailer Amazon, they are a marketing tool.