Phoenix (German TV station)

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.

For other uses, see Phoenix.

Phoenix
CountryGermany
Broadcast areaGermany

Austria

Switzerland
HeadquartersBonn, Germany
Programming
Language(s)German
Picture format1080p HDTV
(downscaled to 720p and 16:9 576i for the DTT and SDTV feeds, respectively)
Ownership
OwnerARD, ZDF
History
Launched7 April 1997 (1997-04-07)
Availability
Terrestrial
Digital terrestrial televisionVaries within locations
Cable
Kabel DeutschlandChannel 552 (SD)
Channel 575 (HD)
UnitymediaChannel 313 (SD)
Channel 97 (HD)
UPC Switzerland (Switzerland)Channel 73 (HD)
Satellite
Astra 1L (19.2°E)10743.75 H 51 22000 5/6 (DVB-S)
Astra 1M (19.2°E)11582.25 H 25 22000 2/3 (HD DVB-S2)
IPTV
Telekom EntertainChannel 15 (HD)
A1 TV (Austria)Channel 43 (SD)
Streaming media
phoenix.deWatch live

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 Pinar Atalay or 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"-like show, 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.

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.[1]

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 publicly-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
  • Logo of Phoenix from 1997 to 2000
  • Logo of Phoenix from 2000 to 2008
  • Logo of Phoenix from 2008 to April 2012
  • Logo of Phoenix since April 2012 to June 3, 2018
  • Logo of Phoenix HD from April 2012 to June 3, 2018
  • Station-Logo since June 4, 2018
  • 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[2]-------------
1998[3]------------ 0.3%
1999[4]------------ 0.4%
2000[5]0.4%0.4%0.4%0.4%0.3%0.4%0.4%0.4%0.4%0.3%0.4%0.4%0.4%
2001[6]0.5%0.4%0.4%-0.4%0.4%0.4%0.5%-0.5%0.5%0.5% 0.5%
2002[7]0.4%0.5%0.5%-0.5%-0.6%-----0.5%
2003[8]0.6%0.6%0.7%0.6%0.4%0.5%0.5%0.6%0.5%0.5%0.5%0.6%0.5%
2004[9]0.6%0.5%0.5%0.6%0.5%0.4%0.6%0.6%0.5%0.4%0.5%0.6%0.5%
2005[10]0.5%0.5%0.6%0.7%0.5%0.5%0.7%0.8%0.7%0.6%0.6%0.6% 0.6%
2006[11]0.6%0.5%0.6%0.7%0.6%0.7%0.8%1.0%0.7%0.7%0.7%1.0% 0.7%
2007[12]0.9%0.8%0.7%1.0%0.8%0.8%1.0%1.1%0.8%0.8%0.8%1.0% 0.9%
2008[13]0.9%0.9%1.0%0.8%0.8%0.7%1.0%1.0%0.9%0.9%1.0%1.1%0.9%
2009[14]1.1%0.9%0.9%1.1%0.9%0.9%1.1%1.1%1.0%0.9%0.9%1.1% 1.0%
2010[15]1.0%0.9%0.8%0.9%0.9%0.9%1.0%1.2%0.9%1.0%1.0%1.3%1.0%
2011[16]1.0%1.1%1.2%1.2%1.0%1.1%1.1%1.2%1.0%1.0%1.0%1.2% 1.1%
2012[17]1.1%1.0%0.9%1.1%1.2%1.0%1.1%1.2%1.0%1.0%1.0%1.3%1.1%
2013[18]1.1%1.1%1.0%1.0%1.0%1.1%1.1%1.2%1.2%1.1%1.1%1.3%1.1%
2014[19]1.1%1.0%1.1%1.1%1.0%1.0%1.1%1.3%1.1%1.1%1.1%1.3%1.1%
2015[20]1.1%1.2%1.2%1.1%1.2%1.1%1.1%1.1%1.0%1.0%1.0%1.2%1.1%
2016[21]1.0%1.0%1.1%1.0%1.1%1.0%1.1%1.1%1.0%1.0%1.1%1.2%1.1%
2017[22]1.1%1.0%1.0%1.1%1.0%1.1%1.2%1.2%1.0%1.0%1.0%1.2%1.1%
2018[23]1.1%0.9%1.1%1.0%

References
  1. "Presseportal: PHOENIX mit 1 Prozent Marktanteil vor N24 und n-tv". Presseportal.de. Archived from the original on 2008-06-04. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  2. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 1997" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  3. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 1998" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  4. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 1999" (PDF). kek-online.de. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  5. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2000" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  6. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2001" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  7. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2002" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  8. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2003" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-11. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  9. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2004" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-11. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  10. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2005" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  11. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2006" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  12. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2007" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  13. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2008" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  14. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2009" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  15. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2010" (PDF). kek-online.de. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  16. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2011" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  17. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2012" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-11. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  18. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2013" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  19. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2014" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-02-07. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  20. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2015" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-05-17. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  21. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2016" (PDF). kek-online.de. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  22. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2017" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-11-17. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  23. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2018" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-02-16. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
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