Last week, more than 250 radio play authors, directors and composers criticized the public broadcasters as “culturally forgotten” in an open letter and turned against the austerity measures and corresponding remuneration rules of ARD and Deutschlandfunk.

The signatories called for the fees to be renegotiated, taking into account the conditions in the digital age.

Otherwise, the radio play as a genre in broadcasting would be endangered.

The ARD responded with a statement in which it rejects the suggestion "that the increase in audience in the online area is additionally remunerated, while the audience decreases in the linear area".

The fact that “remuneration that has been negotiated through collective agreements and remuneration rules on an equal footing and is therefore considered appropriate, is discredited by public letters,” is strange.

The signatories of the open letter will be offered a "round table discussion", which will also be attended by the stage publishers' association, which negotiated the criticized fee agreement.

Agreements for the digital age

"It is good that we come to the negotiating table and are represented with our own voice," says the writer Kathrin Röggla, who is one of the signatories of the letter.

It is not just about fair remuneration, but about a place for radio play and sound art on the public broadcasters, which is appropriate to their cultural mandate.

Röggla fears that when it comes to digitization, the broadcasters could orientate themselves towards commercial platforms such as Netflix and Audible: In the future, algorithms in media libraries could ensure that only users who are already inclined to the genre are advised of radio plays.

Directors under pressure

The Bundesverband Regie meanwhile followed up with another open letter: In this, the board of directors sharply criticized the broadcasters and called on ARD program director Christine Strobl to work with the association to develop new guidelines for cooperation with ARD and Degeto. "The way in which directors in Germany are put under pressure in their work has reached a level that is no longer acceptable," says the letter; there is talk of a “low point”. The stations conducted over directors, scripts came too late, insufficient consideration was given to the maximum daily working time, the names of directors were not included in the program announcements. The “culture of conversation and exchange” has been “lost”.