Country | Germany |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Germany |
Headquarters | Mainz, Germany |
Programming | |
Language(s) | German |
Picture format | |
Ownership | |
Key people | Norbert Himmler (director) |
Sister channels | |
History | |
Launched | 1 April 1963 |
Replaced | ARD 2 (1961–1963) |
Links | |
Website | www |
Availability | |
Terrestrial | |
Digital terrestrial television | Varies by location |
Streaming media | |
ZDF.de | Watch live (Germany only) |
FilmOn | Watch live |
ZiggoGO | ZiggoGO.TV |
Canaldigitaal Live App | Watch Live |
ZDF (German: [ˌtsɛt.deːˈʔɛf] ), short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen[1] (German: [ˈtsvaɪtəs ˈdɔʏtʃəs ˈfɛʁnzeːn] ; lit. 'Second German Television'), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany (Bundesländer). ZDF is financed by television licence fees and advertising revenues.[2]
The broadcaster is well known for its famous programmes heute, a newscast established in 1963, and Wetten, dass..?, an entertainment show that premiered in 1981, with a suspension from 2014 to 2021.[3] Norbert Himmler, ZDF's director general, was elected by the ZDF Television Council in 2021.[3]