Weimer's plans for the ÖRR: Weimer's wild privatization dreams

Our Minister of State for Culture and Media Wolfram Weimer is thinking about privatizing ZDF. And fittingly, just before the week of International Democracy Day, when around 150 media companies and associations launch the “Democracy needs many voices” campaign. ARD, ZDF, RTL, ProSiebenSat.1, newspaper and magazine publishers, private radios - i.e. many media outlets that otherwise like to compete with each other - are jointly asking the question of what a diverse public is actually worth. Answer: a lot.

According to KNA, Weimer said in an internal speech at a Konrad Adenauer Foundation conference last Thursday that one had to consider “whether the current system of ARD and ZDF is still needed in its current form”. It is also possible to privatize ZDF and merge ARD broadcasters. In the end there could only be four or five broadcasters left. Even if the two hooks are not directly related, it is a remarkable sequence of things.

While the media industry is currently standing together and saying: We need many different voices, the Federal Media Minister says that fewer would be enough. Of course you can discuss reforms at ARD and ZDF. Weimer can also hope that duplicate structures and costs will be reduced and cooperation expanded. There is just one small problem: the federal government is not responsible for public broadcasting.

As part of the “Democracy needs many voices” action week, over 150 media outlets in Germany have joined forces - the taz is there. Because “freedom of the press, a central pillar of democracy, is in danger,” as taz editor-in-chief Katrin Gottschalk writes. The week of action is intended to draw attention to the fact that free, professional, responsible media are necessary for democratic cohesion. The organizer is the BDZV, the Federal Association of Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers.

Broadcasting policy is a matter for the states; the states negotiate the relevant state treaties. And this raises an interesting question: Why does the Minister of State for Culture and Media at the federal level talk in such detail about something that he cannot decide himself? You don't have to attribute any motives to him. Maybe he actually wants to initiate a fundamental debate. Maybe he thinks the current structure is inefficient. That can be represented.

But then we should also talk about the things where this minister actually has the opportunity to act. Big Tech, for example. Weimer himself has repeatedly pointed out the power of platform companies. And he has announced a digital levy on large platforms, with revenues intended to benefit the media and creative sectors. In October 2025, the federal government said that his house was working on key points.

In January 2026, according to the Ministry of Finance, the proposal was still with Weimer and was being discussed. And now, in September, the question remains unresolved: Where is the bill? Advertising revenue from traditional media is moving to platforms. Content is distributed via Google, Youtube, Meta and other platforms. And artificial intelligence is messing everything up again.

Weimer himself says that the “AI revolution” is fundamentally changing the media landscape. So the problem has been identified. But Weimer seems a bit distracted and prefers to ask whether Radio Bremen should remain as an independent station. His move shouldn’t come as a complete surprise to us. As early as 2017, he spoke of more than eight billion euros in “compulsory contributions” that public broadcasting received.

Stefan Niggemeier currently comments on this in the Süddeutsche Zeitung: “The Z-word shows the particularly fundamental critics of ARD and ZDF.” At that time, however, Weimer was not yet Minister of State for Media. In a Welt interview from the beginning of 2025, he then spoke of the “acceptance problem” of public broadcasting, but at the same time said that the system was a “great benefit for political and journalistic culture” and that its principles should not be questioned. He encouraged the ÖRR to reform.

Today, “Reform yourselves” has apparently become “Privatize yourselves.” This meant that public broadcasting once again became a political battleground just a few days after the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, in which the AfD won 43.8 percent. The AfD had already announced before the election that it would terminate the state broadcasting contracts if it took over government.

Weimer isn't that far along. But the fact that the arguments against public broadcasting are being handed to him on a silver platter and that he is happy to use them is at least difficult to ignore. And maybe that's why he should take another look at his job description. Because he could actually make a big difference.

The media is under pressure. AI, platform power and the fight for attention are changing the conditions under which journalism can still be financed. This is exactly where a media minister of state should start: with fair competition conditions, with the power of Big Tech, with the financing of journalism and with the question of how media diversity should even be possible in the future. He could ensure that media companies have more economic breathing room, push forward the announced platform levy or take care of the conditions for private journalism.

Instead, he prefers to discuss ZDF. That's a bit lazy, because it's always best to present yourself as a great reformer if you're not responsible for the reform. And if Weimer can't do that with his own area of ​​responsibility, then perhaps he should no longer think about privatizing public broadcasting - but himself.