("Second German Television"), '''ZDF''', is a public service
German Television Channel based in
Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit agency established by joint contract between the
German Federal States (''Bundesländer''). ZDF is funded from a
Television Licence and advertising
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The station began broadcasting on
1 April 1963 from
Eschborn . The channel broadcast its first programme in
Colour in
1967 . In
1974 ZDF moved its base of operations to Mainz-Lerchenberg, after briefly being located in
Wiesbaden .
Unlike American television networks, ZDF (and other German TV networks) has no
Subsidiary Stations and broadcasts one signal over a large transmitter network throughout
Germany . This network, unlike that of the First German television channel
ARD , is run by T-Systems, a subsidiary of
Deutsche Telekom ) (formerly by the German postal service
Deutsche Bundespost ). Prior to the
Reunification Of Germany , ZDF, like ARD, positioned many of its transmitters in locations favourable to its broadcasts being easily receivable in extensive areas of the
GDR , where both channels were viewed (illegally) by large parts of the population.
ZDF has also been relayed by
Cable since the days of the first cable pilot projects. The first
Europe -wide
Satellite broadcast via
Astra 1C began in
August 1993 during the
Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (IFA - "International Broadcasting Exhibition") in
Berlin . In the same decade, these new technologies were used to enable the start of
Digital broadcasting of ZDF. Since
2002 it has been possible to receive ZDF, ARD, and all the major television channels digitally via
DVB-T in ever larger areas of the country.
ZDF also operates the channels ''
KI.KA '', ''
Arte '', ''
3sat '' and ''
Phoenix '' in cooperation with other networks. Included in its digital offering
ZDFvision are the channels ''
ZDF.dokukanal '', ''
ZDF.infokanal '' and ''
ZDF.theaterkanal ''. Today ZDF is Europe's largest television network.
ZDF's
Animated station identity
Mascot s, the ''
Mainzelmännchen '' (a play with the words "Mainz" and "Heinzelmännchen", the latter meaning "brownies" (elfs) in German), created by Wolf Gerlach in
1963 , quickly became very popular and are still shown in between
Commercials .
In
1976 graphic designer
Otl Aicher made a corporate design for ZDF.
Administratively ZDF is headed by a director general (''Intendant''), who is elected by the ZDF Television Council, the composition of which is in turn determined by the "societally relevant groups" named in the ZDF contract. Since the founding of the network in
1963 , the following have held the office of ''Intendant'':
ZDF was admitted as a full active member of the
European Broadcasting Union in
1963 .
