Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg

Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg

Type	Institution under public law
Country	Germany
Availability	Regional National International
Founded	1 May 2003; 20 years ago (2003-05-01)
Headquarters	Berlin and Potsdam
Key people	Ulrike Demmer
Affiliation(s)	ARD
Webcast	Watch Live
Official website	rbb-online.de
Replaced	SFB and ORB

Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (pronounced [ˈʁʊntfʊŋk bɛʁˌliːn ˈbʁandn̩bʊʁk] ^ⓘ; "Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting"), commonly shortened to RBB (pronounced [ˌɛʁbeːˈbeː] ^ⓘ; stylized as rbb), is an institution under public law (national broadcaster) for the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg, based in Berlin and Potsdam. RBB was established on 1 May 2003 through the merger of Sender Freies Berlin (SFB) and Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg (ORB), based in Potsdam, and is a member of the Association of PSBs in the Federal Republic of Germany (ARD).

Aside from its two main studios in Berlin and Potsdam, RBB also has regional studios in Cottbus and Frankfurt (Oder), and regional offices in Perleberg and Prenzlau. RBB also operates ARD's studio in Warsaw; the responsibility changes every five years between RBB and WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk). RBB also plays out ARD's digital channels from a center in Potsdam. RBB and WDR are jointly responsible for ARD's television studio in Berlin.

History

RBB was founded on 25 June 2002 on the basis of a state treaty between the states of Berlin and Brandenburg. As a result, RBB is required to treat both states equally "with respect to the regional content needs".

In 2022 there were complains about nepotism of rbb-director Patricia Schlesinger. The public prosecutor started an investigation and Schlesinger stepped back from the office as ARD-director and rbb-director.^[1]

Organization and finances

RBB Directors-general

The first director-general of the RBB was Dagmar Reim, from 1 May 2003 to 30 June 2016, at an annual salary of €220,000.^[2] Her successor Patricia Schlesinger has been in office since 1 July 2016 and the annual salary has risen to €257,000.^[3]

Finances

Every household in Germany is legally required to pay a €17.50 licence fee per month -the "Rundfunkbeitrag" (broadcast contribution) to finance the public broadcast system.^[4] The fee is collected by Beitragsservice von ARD, ZDF und Deutschlandradio. RBB's revenues from the licence fee amounted to

• €376.535 million in 2013^[5]
• €430.722 million in 2014^[5]
• €413.004 million in 2015^[6]
• €401.915 million in 2016^[6]

Number of employees

In 2016 RBB had an average number of 1,938 permanent employees.^[6]

Channels

Television

• RBB Fernsehen – Berlin and Brandenburg's regional public-broadcasting TV channel (successor to SFB 1 and ORB TV channels). Between 19.30 and 20.00, the channel transmits separate regional news programmes for Berlin ("Abendschau") and Brandenburg ("Brandenburg Aktuell")
• Das Erste – Germany's main television network, of which RBB – as a member of ARD – contributes 7% of programming hours
• Phoenix – ARD and ZDF's joint news, events and current-affairs channel
• KI.KA – ARD and ZDF's joint children's channel
• arte – European cultural channel
• 3sat – cultural channel from ARD, ZDF, ORF (Austrian Broadcasting), and SRG (Swiss Broadcasting)

Radio

• rbb 88.8 [de] – radio station for Berlin from Berlin
• Antenne Brandenburg – public station for Brandenburg from Potsdam with regional information from the studios in Potsdam, Cottbus, Frankfurt (Oder), Perleberg and Prenzlau
• Radioeins [de] – radio station for people aged 25 and above
• Fritz [de] – station aimed at 14- to 24-year-olds
• rbbKultur [de] – cultural channel from Berlin
• Inforadio [de] – news channel from Berlin
• Sorbischer Rundfunk – a joint channel with MDR in the Sorbian language
• COSMO – station from WDR for Germans and foreigners, produced in cooperation with Radio Bremen and RBB, (replaced RBB's own station, Radio Multikulti [de], on 31 December 2008)

Notable productions

RBB produces episodes of the crime series Tatort and Polizeiruf 110 for ARD. It also produces Kontraste [de], a political show and the satirical show Satiregipfel [de] (formerly Scheibenwischer) for ARD. From 2003 to 2005, RBB broadcast the Kurt Krömer Show, which attracted attention nationwide. RBB has produced the show's successor, Bei Krömers, for ARD since 2005.

The regional news show Abendschau [de] has a high profile in the capital region. Since 1958, initially with a slot in ARD including nationwide transmission of the Berlin visit of John F. Kennedy, and later distributed under SFB-frequency, Abendschau reports on politics, economy, sports in Berlin and as well as news from the various districts and boroughs of the city.

RBB produces Ohrenbär [de], aimed at an audience of four and eight-year-olds.

Logo history

• 
  2003–2004
• 
  2004–2017
• 
  Current logo since 28 August 2017

References

External links

Media related to Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg at Wikimedia Commons

• rbb Homepage (in German)

• v
• t
• e

Public broadcasting in Germany

Broadcasters
ARD Current BR HR MDR NDR RB RBB SR SWR WDR DW Former NWDR ORB SFB SDR SWF ZDF Deutschlandradio

Television channels
National ARD Das Erste tagesschau24 ARD-alpha one DW-TV ZDF ZDF ZDFinfo ZDFneo ARD and ZDF 3sat arte KiKA phoenix Funk Regional ARD BR Fernsehen hr-fernsehen MDR Fernsehen NDR Fernsehen Radio Bremen TV RBB Fernsehen SR Fernsehen SWR Fernsehen WDR Fernsehen

Radio stations

National DLR Deutschlandfunk Deutschlandfunk Kultur Dokumente und Debatten Deutschlandfunk Nova International Deutsche Welle Regional (ARD) BR Bayern 1 Bayern 2 Bayern 3 BR-Klassik BR24 BR24live BR Heimat BR Schlager BR Verkehr Puls HR hr1 hr2-kultur hr3 hr4 hr4 Mitte hr4 Nord hr4 Rhein-Main hr-info You FM MDR MDR MDR Sachsen [de] MDR Sachsen-Anhalt [de] MDR Thüringen – Das Radio [de] MDR Aktuell MDR Jump MDR Klassik MDR Kultur MDR Schlagerwelt MDR Sputnik MDR Tweens [de] Sorbischer Rundfunk NDR NDR 1 NDR 1 Niedersachsen NDR 1 Radio MV NDR 1 Welle Nord NDR 90,3 (Hamburg) NDR 2 NDR Blue [de] NDR Info NDR Info Spezial NDR Kultur N-JOY NDR Plus NDR Schlager [de] RB Bremen Eins Bremen Zwei Bremen Next Bremen Vier Bremen Fünf Bremen Cosmo RBB Antenne Brandenburg COSMO Fritz [de] Inforadio [de] rbbKultur [de] rbb 88.8 [de] Radio Eins [de] Sorbischer Rundfunk SR Antenne Saar [de] SR 1 Europawelle [de] SR 2 Kulturradio [de] SR 3 Saarlandwelle [de] Unserding [de] SWR DASDING SWR1 SWR1 Baden-Württemberg SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz SWR2 [de] SWR2 Archivradio SWR3 SWR4 [de] SWR4 Baden-Württemberg SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz SWR Aktuell [de] WDR 1LIVE 1LIVE diggi COSMO WDR 2 WDR 3 WDR 4 WDR 5 WDR Event

Discontinued

Television channels ARD 1 Plus ARD 2 [de] Deutscher Fernsehfunk EinsPlus RBB Berlin RBB Brandenburg ZDF 2 ZDF Musikkanal ZDFdokukanal ZDFkultur ZDFtheaterkanal Radio stations 1LIVE Kunst [de] Bayern 2 plus Bayern mobil Berliner Rundfunk D-Plus [de] DT64 [de] Hansawelle hr XXL hr-chronos Hr-klassik hr-info plus [de] hr-skyline hr1 plus KiRaKa MDR Life Das Modul Ferienwelle [de] NDR 2 Plus [de]  NDR Traffic [de] Nordwestradio NWDR on3-radio Radio 3 [de] Radio 4U [de] Radio DDR 1 Radio DDR 2 Radio Kultur [de] Radio Multikulti [de] Radio B Zwei Radio Bremen 2 Radio Bremen Melodie Radio Brandenburg Radio Dortmund Rockradio B [de] Radio Wolga SDR 1 [de] SDR 3 [de] SFB 3 [de] SR 4 [de] SWF 1 [de] S2 Kultur [de] SWF 3 [de] S4 Baden-Wuerttemberg [de] SWF4 Rheinland-Pfalz [de] SWR cont.ra [de] SWRinfo [de] WDR 1 WDR 2 Klassik WDR Info WDR VERA International Berliner Welle [de] Deutschlandsender Radio Berlin International Stimme der DDR [de]