Overview
- Thirteen of Germany’s 16 state parliaments have approved the Reformstaatsvertrag, with final votes in Brandenburg, North Rhine‑Westphalia and Lower Saxony still pending.
- If fully ratified, the agreement would take effect on December 1, 2025 and begin a multi‑year transition for public broadcasters’ youth offerings.
- The plan bundles KiKA, funk, ZDF‑neo and ARD One into a coordinated portfolio for younger audiences rather than merging them into a single channel.
- Linear channels aimed at young viewers are slated to be discontinued by January 1, 2029 as children’s content moves to online‑only distribution.
- ARD and ZDF urge a usage‑driven, phased approach to any shutdown, while critics warn about losing media‑educational structures and access for families not fully online.