Overview

• The Federal Administrative Court upheld the obligation to pay the Rundfunkbeitrag, rejecting non‑payment based on personal dissatisfaction with ARD, ZDF or Deutschlandradio content.
• Judges said administrative courts may examine whether the overall public‑broadcasting offer fulfills diversity and balance, but only if plaintiffs show evident, regular deficits over at least two years, typically backed by expert reports.
• The ruling overturns the Bavarian VGH’s approach and sends the case back for fact‑finding; a referral to the Federal Constitutional Court would follow only if the contribution–program equivalence is found broken.
• The case stems from a Bavarian woman’s refusal to pay for several months in 2021–2022, after lower courts had directed such complaints to broadcaster oversight councils rather than conducting substantive review.
• Separately, a Länder deal to introduce a ‘Widerspruchsmodell’ for easier KEF‑based fee adjustments from 2027 has stalled after Bavaria and Saxony‑Anhalt withheld signatures, leaving the procedural reform on hold.