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Mainz (AP) - ZDF director Thomas Bellut thinks nothing of an association of public broadcasters in Germany.
Because of the different functions of ARD and ZDF, this is not possible at all, Bellut told the newspapers of the VRM group in Mainz.
The ZDF has a national mandate, the ARD is a working group of important regional broadcasters with a chair that changes every two years.
The director sees “no market or business sense” in an association.
Bellut also emphasized in the interview: "I am a clear advocate of a quality competition for the main programs of ZDF and ARD."
Diversity of opinion must be preserved and not restricted without necessity.
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The proposal to merge the houses of ARD and ZDF has been taken up time and again in the past, most recently by the CDU and CSU's SME Union.
Media policy is essentially a country issue.
The debate was recently also warmed up under the impression of the dispute over the increase in the broadcasting fee, which the state of Saxony-Anhalt had stopped contrary to the position of all other federal states.
In the Broadcasting Commission, the federal states are currently pushing ahead with their plans to reform the mandate and structure of public broadcasting, also with a view to potential savings.
Bellut also mentioned existing collaborations with other broadcasters in the interview.
Saving is good and important, for example through cooperation with ARD broadcasters such as Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) in the production of “Morgenmagazin” and “Mittagsmagazin” in a studio.
"We should exhaust all possibilities to get the costs under control," said Bellut, who will stop as ZDF director in March 2022 and will not apply for a third term.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210407-99-112890 / 4