As of: March 30, 2024, 6:32 a.m
By: Cefina Gomez
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After around six months, the station SRGT disappears from the scene. There had been a previous violation, which is why he was punished with a fine.
Munich – The broadcaster Schwarz-Rot-Gold-TV (SRGT) is about to end. The one-man television program was fined 195,000 euros by the State Office for Communications (LfK) in Baden-Württemberg. The former doctor and controversial owner of the SRGT station, Wilfried Geissler, is said to have violated the state media contract by allowing unauthorized topic placement in his program, as the
Tagesschau
reports.
The station will cease operations from April 1st. In contrast, free TV is getting a boost from “DF1”, which is likely to be particularly popular with sports lovers.
After a serious violation: “We are burying SRGT TV stations after seven months”
In a YouTube video, presented as a “press conference,” founder Geissler announced: “We are burying SRGT TV station after seven months.” The State Communications Authority has imposed a fine on the TV station after the Commission for Licensing and Supervision (ZAK) found a violation of the State Media Treaty, according to a report in the
Tagesschau
.
Wilfried Geissler's controversial TV show is being discontinued. © Arnulf Hettrich/Imago
The accusation is that the SRGT broadcast the program of an Austrian broadcaster for a fee without being able to influence the content. Since September 2023, SRGT has been broadcasting content from the right-wing populist Austrian broadcasterAuf1 for six hours a day.
Wolfgang Kreißig, chairman of the ZAK, explained to
SWR
: “The editorial independence of a broadcaster is a core requirement of our media system. The fact that 'Schwarz-Rot-Gold-TV (SRGT)' in the present case provides extensive broadcasting time to third parties for a fee is considered by the ZAK to be a violation of the ban on influencing programming according to the State Media Treaty. The TV station Deutsche Welle has also stopped broadcasting, affecting hundreds of employees.
Controversial TV founder: “The LfK Baden-Württemberg won, the station lost”
“The LfK Baden-Württemberg won, the station lost,” announced Geissler in a YouTube video. Geissler reacts to the fine notice with incomprehension and explains that he had already started sharing content on YouTube that was similar to that of the Austrian broadcaster three years before he began working withAuf1. The collaboration with the editor-in-chief ofAuf1, Stefan Magnet, is not a big change due to the “congruent” content.
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The LfK responded
to the statements to the
SWR
. Different regulations would therefore apply to a YouTube channel. “If you have a broadcasting license and are a broadcaster, then you also have a great responsibility because you can reach many people via satellite. And that includes editorial independence,” says LfK President Wolfgang Kreißig.
Nevertheless, he spoke out in favor of the LfK, praising it for its objective work “without political hatred towards the right”. He announced that he wanted to pay the fine. He received support through donations collected by the broadcaster AUF1.
(cg)