At midday on January 14, 2025, broadcasting for antenna television at four large, far-reaching German basic network transmitter locations ended forever.
The plans became known at the end of October 2024. Now, a week after the SD shutdown of ARD on Astra 19.2 degrees East, DVB-T2 has now also been buried.
Which transmitter locations are affected?
In Saxony-Anhalt, the two multiplexes of MDR and ZDF at the Brocken and Wittenberg/Gallunberg locations were switched off. On the Brocken these were channels 45, 34 and 37, in Wittenberg these were channels 38, 24 and 37. The packages with 50 kW ERP each were broadcast at both locations.
In Saxony, the Löbau/Schafberg transmitter was switched off on January 14, 2025. The two MDR channels on channels 34 and 39, as well as ZDF on channel 36, also came via him.
In Thuringia, the Inselberg site fell victim to the shutdown. The MDR and ZDF packages could be found on channels 27, 39 and 41. The inselberg was also an exposed transmitter location with a very long range. When the weather conditions were good, his signals even made it as far as Austria. These two locations also worked with 50 kW ERP each.
Why was it shut down?
Digital antenna television has so far only been used by around 3 percent of TV households in Central Germany. In rural regions where the three private Freenet packages are not transmitted, the range was even lower.
According to reports, the MDR and ZDF have independently spoken out in favor of ending the costly broadcasting operations at the four locations mentioned. The reason given was the austerity pressure imposed on public broadcasters.
Really only 3 percent?
Such statistics usually assume how many households use digital antenna television as their primary distribution channel. But what is often overlooked is the secondary use on the second, third and fourth devices. These are often older televisions that do not yet understand streaming, media libraries and the like. Furthermore, DVB-T2 often saved time-consuming installation work for antenna cables. There is now definitely a broadcast deadline on all of these TVs.
In any case, we can assume that this measure has not exactly increased the attractiveness of digital antenna television. Evil tongues could even claim that this has done DVB-T2 a disservice.
DVB-T2 still available?
In advance, we had the impression that it was particularly important for the MDR to point out that DVB-T2 is still available in metropolitan areas. In any case, the operation of these usually lower-performance locations is cheaper than large transmitter systems.
Decommissioned stations with limited range?
What was remarkable was that the MDR announced that the four locations that have now been switched off are systems with low range. However, that depends on how you look at it. Since Brocken, Inselberg and the like mainly served rural areas, fewer people were reached via them than via a metropolitan area transmitter in a big city. However, if we look at the range in kilometers, then that of the decommissioned systems was many times greater than that of the DVB-T2 channels that are still active.
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Image source:
- Brocken resin antenna radio mast: © Christopher Klein/stock.adobe.com
Source: www.digitalfernsehen.de