GERMAN TV: Test Programme Launched

GERMAN TV began transmissions in the United States on February 1, 2002, with a daily seven-hour test programme. This was announced by Deutsche Welle (DW) on February 1, 2002. GERMAN TV is a full German-language programme with a focus on information and entertainment and supplied by Germany's public broadcasters ARD, ZDF and DW. The the programming includes the news magazines "Tagesschau", "heute journal" and the talkshows "Sabine Christiansen", "Berlin Mitte" and "Boulevard Bio". In addition, there will be a variety of fictional programmes, among them the ZDF television drama and ARD's detective series "Tatort", as well as children's shows.

The test programme will serve first and foremost to evaluate the technical quality of the transmissions from Berlin, via London, to Miami and Staten Island in New York City. From there, the signal will be relayed further over the satellites Telstar 5 and GE-1. The technical tests will include performance and operational checks for the satellite transmission facilities, the encoding system, the Smart Cards and the NTSC transmission standard. The test phase will also be used to monitor the complex coordination and programming procedures between DW, ZDF and the ARD affiliates throughout Germany.

The test programme will be broadcast until the end of March in loops with a weekly change. The regular, full programme will begin transmissions in April. Starting in May, GERMAN TV will become a subscription-only, Pay-TV network.
Before the test programme was launched, more than 400 inquiries about GERMAN TV had been received from interested viewers in the USA.

February 1, 2002
21/2002