Last year, the second German television (ZDF) had announced on the occasion of the IFA in Berlin to stop the broadcast of its programs in standard resolution via satellite. Now the television institution based in Mainz is once again reminiscent of the fact that the spread of the ZDF main program and the ZDFinfo, ZDFneo, 3sat and Kika division ends in SD quality.
Unlike in 2024, affected spectators now only have a few weeks left to respond to the loss of the broadcasts in standard resolution. The ZDF records on the date communicated last year. Accordingly, the programs in SD quality end on November 18. At Arte and Phoenix, the transmission in standard resolution ended in November 2022.
ZDF switches SD channels off
Foto: Image licensed by Ingram Image, Logo: ZDF, Montage: teltarif.de
“For around 15 years, all programs have been distributed in both SD and HD quality,” said ZDF. “By setting the SD broadcast, the ZDF lowers its costs for the program distribution and thus also fulfills the legitimate expectation of economic and economical handling of the broadcasting contributions.” Almost all households would now use the TV reception in HD quality. The ARD has long since said goodbye to the outdated Sendenorm.
Private broadcasters record SD
While the SD shutdown is long overdue for the public television channels, the situation is different for private competitors. As early as the summer of 2024, RTL and Astra concluded a long-term contract that ensures the distribution of RTL, VOX, NTV, Nitro, Super RTL, Toggo Plus, RTLUP, VOXUP and RTLZWEI. At the end of February, ProSiebenSat.1.
For private television channels, however, the situation is different from the public law: Programs such as ProSieben and RTL, Sat.1 and VOX can only be received unencrypted in SD. The HD programs are “fundamental”. A subscription – such as HD+ – is required for the reception.
In other words, if the private broadcaster sets the SD programs and continued to be sent in HD, the programs are very likely to lose spectators – and thus also advertising revenue. Therefore, in the foreseeable future it cannot be expected that the commercial TV stations will also stop their SD programs.
In another message, we reported about changes to ProSiebenSat.1.
