The Hessischer Rundfunk closed the past year with a minus.
The shortfall was € 90.3 million because € 596.8 million was spent but only € 506.5 million was received.
The broadcaster also made a loss in 2019, when it was € 99.6 million.
The broadcaster gives the reason for the high provisions for employee benefits.
If you only look at the current income and expenses, the result is positive.
Manfred Koehler
Deputy head of the regional section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and editor in charge of the business magazine Metropol.
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In a press release, the Frankfurt broadcaster emphasizes that it has enough liquid funds to continue to fulfill its statutory mandate.
The corona pandemic may have left its mark on the business results, but the additional expenses, for example for keeping employees healthy, on the one hand and lower income, for example due to the omission of concerts, on the other hand, are offset by lower expenses for events, so that this roughly balances out.
Demand almost 50 percent higher
The Broadcasting Council approved the annual accounts at its meeting on Friday.
HR Director Manfred Krupp reported that the corona pandemic increased the demand for digital offers by 46 percent last year compared to 2019.
"The pandemic has confirmed how important it is that public service broadcasting, as an institution geared to the common good, is able to create a general public and thus create a counterweight to the increasing individualization in digital media use."
Armin Clauss, the chairman of the board of directors, complained that by “slowing down” the approval of the increase in monthly broadcasting fees from 17.50 to 18.36 euros per month, Hessischer Rundfunk had 15.6 million euros less than available each year owed him. "This money is missing, all the more since it is now a question of not only serving parts of society and not getting left behind in the global digital change."