Overview

• Florian Hager rolled out new salary guidelines for station directors and oversight boards to strengthen governance following past pay controversies
• He defended the 18.36 euro Rundfunkbeitrag by arguing that even unpaid executives would not reduce costs in any significant way
• The ARD chief framed high-reach entertainment and fiction formats—such as Florian Silbereisen’s Volksmusik festivals, Tatort and Lindenstraße—as democratically vital
• ARD will eliminate 16 of its 70 DAB+ radio channels by 2027 under political cost-cutting mandates
• Hager called for deeper cooperation among regional broadcasters and acknowledged the need to improve outreach to certain political groups and migrant communities