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Phoenix (German TV channel)

German free-to-air television channel

Summary

German free-to-air television channel

Field	Value
logo	Phoenix-logo-2018.svg
logo_size	250px
picture_format	1080p HDTV
(downscaled to 720p for the DTT and Cable feed)
name	Phoenix
country	Germany
language	German
area	Germany, Austria, Switzerland
headquarters	Bonn, Germany
owner	ARD and ZDF
launch_date
terr_serv_1	Digital terrestrial television
terr_chan_1	Varies within locations
online_serv_1	phoenix.de
online_chan_1	Watch live

(downscaled to 720p for the DTT and Cable feed) Phoenix (stylised as phoenıx, ) is a German free-to-air television channel which is operated jointly by public-service broadcasters ARD and ZDF. It broadcasts documentaries, news, special events coverage and discussion programmes. Phoenix's headquarters are in Bonn, the former West German capital.

History

Creation

The creation of Phoenix is credited to the former chancellor Helmut Kohl, who wanted to create a "European Parliamentary Channel". However, the idea was rejected due to criticism by the public channels (ARD and ZDF) and suspicion that political pressure from Kohl could lead to a "Helmut-Kohl-Channel".

The real idea for "Phoenix - Der Ereignis- und Dokumentationskanal" ("Phoenix - the current affairs and documentary channel") came from viewers of ARD and ZDF, who wanted a "media-political correction of faults in the system of information transfer". This created the opportunity to create a "Parliamentary Channel", with the aim of increasing credibility and satisfying consumer demand.

Private channels (RTL and Sat.1) criticized the creation of Phoenix because they were at the time creating their own news channels (n-tv and N24 respectively).

The headquarters of Phoenix were provisionally situated in Cologne. However, in 2000, the headquarters were relocated to studios in Bonn.

Phoenix's highest ratings to date were in August 2006, when it had 1.0% viewer share. With about 4.5 million viewers, it had more viewers than N-TV and N24.

On November 15, 2022, Phoenix closed its SDTV feed across its cable and satellite feeds, which means it is now only available in HD.

Cancelled airing of a documentary film with far-right bias

Main article: Inside Südkorea – Staatskrise im Schatten von Nordkorea und China

Phoenix originally scheduled a documentary film titled Inside Südkorea – Staatskrise im Schatten von Nordkorea und China () to be aired on 6 March 2025; ahead of its scheduled broadcast, the documentary was released on the channel's website, as well as on ARD Mediathek and ZDF Mediathek (the online video on demand and streaming services of ARD and ZDF, respectively) on 25 February. The documentary explores the December 2024 South Korean martial law and the political crisis that followed.

The documentary, however, was heavily criticised for alleged far-right bias and for presenting a one-sided portrayal of the political situation in South Korea, favouring the now-impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol in the process. It features interviews with far-right figures, including Uh Dong-gyun, Jeon Kwang-hoon and former U.S. Colonel David S. Maxwell, who repeatedly assert the unproven claims that North Korea and China are working to undermine the democracy in South Korea.

The documentary features Eric J. Ballbach, the expert on the Korean peninsula from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), as the only person with the view against such conspiracy theory. When asked by Der Spiegel magazine, the SWP's communication department expressed the Institute's disappointment, stating that the documentary is 'highly biased and uncritical, both in the selection of information and in some of the interviewees'.

Following complaints and concerns over journalistic standards, Phoenix re-examined the documetary, and by 8 March 2025, it was pulled from the channel's website, ARD Mediathek and ZDF Mediathek. Its originally scheduled airing on 6 March was replaced with a documentary about Donald Trump. The review concluded that Inside Südkorea ignored the complexity of the political situation in South Korea, and does not meet the channel's journalistic standards. The response to the inquiry from Der Spiegel was that the documentary was 'intended to shed light on the previously less reported perspective of the conservative PPP around the suspended head of state Yoon', but it 'failed to do so with the necessary balance'.

Programming

Phoenix broadcasts a deaf-subtitled version of the Tagesschau, ARD's flagship news broadcast, and ZDF's premier news broadcast heute-journal, in German Sign Language.

The channel's flagship news broadcast is Der Tag ("The Day"), which airs from 11:00 pm to midnight. Its length enables extended reports and interviews to be included.

The show Vor Ort ("On Scene") includes live coverage of political events, public lectures by important personalities, press conferences and assemblies of the Bundestag and Bundesrat.

Daily talk shows like Phoenix Runde (Phoenix Roundtable) with Alexander Kähler, Unter den Linden with Michaela Kolster or Michael Hirz, discuss current topics with experts or politicians.

As a benchmark in coverage, a "Meet the Press"-styleshow, Internationaler Frühschoppen is broadcast Sunday at 12 noon when the ARD's Presseclub is not broadcast.

The series Historische Debatten (Historical Debates) and Historische Ereignisse (Historical Events), with journalist Helmut Illert, examine important topics relating to the development of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Phoenix is comparable to the American channel C-SPAN or the British BBC Parliament, because they also cover government and national politics.

Alignment of programming

Phoenix's stated aim is it to create "balance of the shortening of information, which are seen in news and magazines on television". The programming should be a "truthful illustration of the reality in correspondence with the constitutional order of the funded broadcast and television stations in Germany". The target is fulfilled with current reportages and documentaries from the vast archive of ARD and ZDF, as well as international productions from Discovery Channel and the BBC, dubbed into German.

Logo history

Phoenix Logo 1997.svg|Logo of Phoenix from 1997 to 2000 Phoenix-Logo.svg|Logo of Phoenix from 2000 to 2008 Phoenix_Logo_2008.svg|Logo of Phoenix from 2008 to April 2012 Phoenix Logo 2012.svg|Logo of Phoenix since April 2012 to June 3, 2018 Phoenix HD Logo.svg|Logo of Phoenix HD from April 2012 to June 3, 2018 Phoenix-logo-2018.svg|Station-Logo since June 4, 2018 Phoenix Logo 2018 ohne Claim.svg|OnAir-Logo of Phoenix SD & HD since June 4, 2018

Audience share

Germany

January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December	Annual average
1997	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1998	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1999	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2000	0.4%	0.4%	0.4%	0.4%	0.3%	0.4%	0.4%	0.4%	0.4%	0.3%	0.4%	0.4%
2001	0.5%	0.4%	0.4%	-	0.4%	0.4%	0.4%	0.5%	-	0.5%	0.5%	0.5%
2002	0.4%	0.5%	0.5%	-	0.5%	-	0.6%	-	-	-	-	-
2003	0.6%	0.6%	0.7%	0.6%	0.4%	0.5%	0.5%	0.6%	0.5%	0.5%	0.5%	0.6%
2004	0.6%	0.5%	0.5%	0.6%	0.5%	0.4%	0.6%	0.6%	0.5%	0.4%	0.5%	0.6%
2005	0.5%	0.5%	0.6%	0.7%	0.5%	0.5%	0.7%	0.8%	0.7%	0.6%	0.6%	0.6%
2006	0.6%	0.5%	0.6%	0.7%	0.6%	0.7%	0.8%	1.0%	0.7%	0.7%	0.7%	1.0%
2007	0.9%	0.8%	0.7%	1.0%	0.8%	0.8%	1.0%	1.1%	0.8%	0.8%	0.8%	1.0%
2008	0.9%	0.9%	1.0%	0.8%	0.8%	0.7%	1.0%	1.0%	0.9%	0.9%	1.0%	1.1%
2009	1.1%	0.9%	0.9%	1.1%	0.9%	0.9%	1.1%	1.1%	1.0%	0.9%	0.9%	1.1%
2010	1.0%	0.9%	0.8%	0.9%	0.9%	0.9%	1.0%	1.2%	0.9%	1.0%	1.0%	1.3%
2011	1.0%	1.1%	1.2%	1.2%	1.0%	1.1%	1.1%	1.2%	1.0%	1.0%	1.0%	1.2%
2012	1.1%	1.0%	0.9%	1.1%	1.2%	1.0%	1.1%	1.2%	1.0%	1.0%	1.0%	1.3%
2013	1.1%	1.1%	1.0%	1.0%	1.0%	1.1%	1.1%	1.2%	1.2%	1.1%	1.1%	1.3%
2014	1.1%	1.0%	1.1%	1.1%	1.0%	1.0%	1.1%	1.3%	1.1%	1.1%	1.1%	1.3%
2015	1.1%	1.2%	1.2%	1.1%	1.2%	1.1%	1.1%	1.1%	1.0%	1.0%	1.0%	1.2%
2016	1.0%	1.0%	1.1%	1.0%	1.1%	1.0%	1.1%	1.1%	1.0%	1.0%	1.1%	1.2%
2017	1.1%	1.0%	1.0%	1.1%	1.0%	1.1%	1.2%	1.2%	1.0%	1.0%	1.0%	1.2%
2018	1.1%	0.9%	1.1%	1.0%

References

"Presseportal: PHOENIX mit 1 Prozent Marktanteil vor N24 und n-tv". Presseportal.de.
"SD-Abschaltung ARTE, tagesschau24, ONE, Phönix 15.11.2022".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 1997".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 1998".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 1999".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2000".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2001".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2002".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2003".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2004".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2005".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2006".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2007".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2008".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2009".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2010".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2011".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2012".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2013".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2014".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2015".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2016".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2017".
"KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2018".
(8 March 2025). "ARD und ZDF löschen Südkorea-Doku – wegen journalistischer Mängel". [[Der Spiegel]].
(7 March 2025). "Staatskrise in Südkorea: Auf in Richtung Finale". [[Die Tageszeitung]].
ko. 김계연. link. (8 March 2025)

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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