West German TV news, 1980s

Here I am, asking yet another question about West Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) in the 1980s.

To put it briefly, did any of the West German television channels have a midday news program? Would the broadcast have been national, regional, or local?

My American hero is in Freiburg-am-Bresgau and sees a news broadcast that upsets him very much. I wanted it earlier in the day so there'd be more time for it to gall him.

If not at noon, when would the earliest news program come on?

Google hasn't been useful. For whatever reason, it keeps spouting up results about East Germany instead, and none of them about news shows, specifically.

Oh, yeah, and what kind of programming would the channels have on in the morning? In America, it would have been game shows and soap operas. But I'm assuming nothing about the BRD.

 

Give me until tomorrow and I'll ask my mom. She might not know though (different country), but I figure there's a chance she remembers vacations and stuff

 

Let me see what I can find out for you.

 

Yeah, early 90's, and I was utterly addicted to the SSVC. It was all Home & Away, Neighbors, Coronation Street, The Bill, Eastenders, etc.

Any news programming I watched would have come from the AFRTS (AFN). I remember a young brunette woman with hair that seemed decidedly out of regs, but she was in full dress uniform as the news anchor.

 

Oh, lovely. I've already assumed there would be morning news in 1983. You think I could fudge it and be glad when/if I actually got readers who would notice?

 

Oh, yeah, I remember all those, from living in Oxford fall 1992 to spring 1996. Day or two after I moved into my theological college I got a copy-machine notice in my pigeonhole saying, "Can you stick Neighbors? If so, meet us in the Upper Common Room at 2:00 PM."

I was aware that Neighbors was a soap opera/serial, which isn't my cuppa, but I went anyway. Found out we were gluing little strips of paper with the word "neighbor" on it over the word "fellowman" in the General Confession in the Alternative Service Books for the college chapel. I happily pitched in, "neighbor" being more biblically correct in the context than "fellowman," as well as more inclusive.

Never became a fan of the show. Too many essays to write to park myself in front of the telly.

 

Yeah, I had a CYA note in my back/front matter in the first novel. Like for when I made up an informal affirmative action program for a real American university in the mid-1960s.

 

My mother doesn't know. She was working these times of the day

 

I've had two responses:

"In the 1980s, I did not watch TV as a matter of principle, which only became interesting for me in terms of quality from the beginning of the 2000s (especially films and TV series), I was interviewed in 1984 for about 5 minutes by a team of the private channel RTL, but I never saw the show.


But I can say that there were regional channels with a focus on regional themes in addition to nationwide channels, see the graphic below. These are the so-called "third programs" of the ARD network. Dr. Gerhard Bott, with whom I cooperated from 2015 until his death in 2018, was one of the senior editors of the regional broadcaster NDR during this period.


The programs were probably not much different from today's mix of politics (nationwide & regional), films, school programs, documentaries, etc.

"

And:
"As a young adult in Germany in the late 1970's serving in the US military all I remember of German TV was soccer and the surprising level of nudity. Mostly we watched AFN, and listened to the pirate radio stations off England's coast. Occasionally for laughs we'd listen to Radio Tirana in Albania. Our primary source of European news was BBC radio.

Turned to the German radio more often when the Bader-Meinhof attacks began especially in late 1977."

 

Here's a thought - is your hero an American serviceman? In which case, he could get his news from the US Armed Forces Network (AFN).

 

I don't know how useful this will be, but here is another response:

"Below I included an excerpt from an online article from 1995 about the then program of the Bayerischer Rundfunk (translated from German with DeepL, not proofread). This is relatively close to the 1980s. The Bayerischer Rundfunk ("BR") is one of the largest regional broadcasters andcan be received nationwide today; whether this was also the case in the 1980s, I do not know now. Although it is post-91, it is only meant to provide examples of what was certainly broadcast in a similar form before 1991. I happen to be a freelancer of the station. One of my novel translations from the 18th century has been presented several times on the BR radio for several minutes.

The morning program on Bavarian Television The new year begins on Bavarian Television with a new program offering: "espresso - the morning program. Starting on January 9, "espresso" will once again show the most interesting programs and contributions from the previous days. This gives viewers the opportunity to see what they missed the night before, e.g. "sport-tribüne" and "blickpunkt Sport", "Live from the Alabama", "Die Sprechstunde" and current magazines from politics, business, culture, family and ecology. The program will be presented live by a new young team of presenters. In "espresso" they provide hourly information with current headlines from all over the world, weather forecasts and current tips on health, environment, economy and culture. Prominent studio guests will guide through the program week and give their very personal TV tips. Experts will be on hand to provide information and advice on Bavarian Television programs by telephone. espresso" will be on site at events with great public interest, such as the Munich Media Days or the Munich Film Festival, to provide up-to-date information. With the launch of "espresso - Das Vormittagsprogramm", Bavarian Television has taken the final step towards a full round-the-clock program. Daily from Monday to Friday, from to o'clock Bayerntext BAYERNTEXT - the television text program of the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation - has been able to expand its leading position among the regional teletexts. BAYERNTEXT owes its popularity not least to its up-to-date and comprehensive sports coverage, which was expanded in the winter season 94/95 to include two more ice hockey leagues as well as youth and women's soccer. In the test, the train connections of the Munich main station were included. As an online service, avalanche and flood information rounds off the range of services offered by BAYERN TEXT. Since December, BAYERNTEXT has been present with current headlines in the Infoscreen system of Munich's underground and suburban railroads. The popular panoramic pictures of the Bavarian Television are made even more attractive by the inclusion of moving pictures from the Bavarian and Austrian Alpine region and are broadcast daily until the start of the Bavarian Television program.
(...)
Culture and Family Family The Pumuckl comes,... again. There is hardly a day that goes by without spectators asking the question: When will the Pumuckl return? That will certainly change in the future. There is hardly a more popular and well-known children's figure in Germany than him, the little Klabauter. Invented and conceived by Ellis Kaut, he first pulled his pranks in the 1960s on the children's program of BR radio, and in the mid-1970s he also saw the light of day on the children's program of BR children's television. The great fascination that this figure exerts has now prompted the BR children's television editorial team to have him present the entire children's program in the future. The Pumuckl will lead through a one-hour program and, in addition to the Pumuckl series, will also present all the other children's programs, exciting children's adventure series, observations from the animal world, picture stories and much more. In the future, the goblin will give his comments, as an ally of the children, visible only to them and on their behalf exploring the world of adults. Sundays on the first at 7.00 a.m., repetition on Thursdays on Bavarian television at o'clock. Herzklopfen Ein Spiel um Liebe und Sympathie Continuation of the successful entertainment program for young people with Thomas Ohrner. Nine girls and boys from 13 to 16 years get to know each other in the show and choose their partners. Whether these couples really fit together, they are allowed to prove in various harmony games, from which the dream couple of the day finally emerges. Starting from 2 January, Monday to Thursday, at o'clock The girl from the future A time travel goes wrong. Alana, a 13-year-old girl from the year 3000 AD, is kidnapped by the gangster Silverthorn, who comes from the desert age around 2500. Together they make a crash landing with a time capsule and find themselves in the world of on the garbage dump on the outskirts of the Australian metropolis Sidney. Alone and desperate Alana meets Jenny and her little space obsessed brother Petey. The three of them set off in search of the time capsule that the dangerous Silverthorn has brought with it. Jenny is seriously injured. Alana takes Jenny with her to the year 3000 so that she can be healed. But the evil Silverthorn is back in the game. Jenny gets well and has to return to her time. On this journey into the past, they also want to get rid of Silverthorn. He is supposed to be put down in the year 2500. But Silverthorn tricks everyone. Alana, Jenny and the time capsule pilot Lorien are stranded in a landscape of rubble. The crime syndicate, which controls the destroyed northern hemisphere of the earth, is soon on the heels of the time travelers. Silverthorn also starts a nasty experiment: he wants to manipulate time and thus also human history. But Alana and Jenny do not give up. A thrilling 24-part science fiction game series in which the deep friendship of two girls is the supporting level in a turbulent plot. From April 12th daily from Monday to Thursday at o'clock right so! The Television Arbitration Court What in the USA the murder trial against O.J. Simpson was, in Bavaria the Television Arbitration Court of the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation with Prof. Dr. Heinz Ludwig "Recht so" is unique in the German television landscape: in front of a running television camera, a civil law dispute is actually negotiated and decided. The cases that come to trial are taken from real life: Trouble with the dry cleaner, who defaces the suit instead of cleaning it, trouble with the neighbors who built over the property line or flooded the adjacent basement. Right on! - The television arbitration court combines entertainment and legal reality. Plaintiff and defendant are not actors, but real parties who quickly forget the television cameras, because their rights and interests are at stake. The finding of justice and jurisdiction become transparent. Judge Ludwig convinces by his scientific competence and his humane, often humorous way of conducting negotiations. Saturday, 28 January and 4 February at Uhr Fliege Jürgen Fliege's guests are people with everyday problems such as "my child is a fidgeter" or "my husband is a foreigner", but also people who have a dramatic fate such as a young woman who was held prisoner and sexually abused by a married couple for over a year. The audience in the studio can and should have their say and thus influence the course of the show."

 

What fun! I wonder where I could go with that, since my character is watching the TV in Freiburg-am-Bresgau, which of course is in Baden Wuerttemberg.

From your map, the regional TV channel would be SWR, or rather, Südwest 3, as it was at the time of my story. Did they have similar programming back then?

What I need is for there to be a way for my protagonist to see the TV running a clip of his wife seemingly appealing to the chancellor to give in to her captors' demands. I have to allow time for the tape to be carried from the hideout in the Black Forest to the station's broadcast center in--- Stuttgart? (I'll have to look). The tape is made around 8:30 the same morning.

So not before noon.

Hmm. If I don't give Südwest 3 a regular noon news program, would they break in with a special bulletin, since my FMC's disappearance is linked with the kidnapping of a beloved German violinist?

Thanks for the info so far. Gotta go sell paint in a few minutes, but I'll see what I can do with this later.

 

Bearing in mind - in the 1980s, the Cold War was still ongoing and it had only been a few years since Bader-Meinhof. Unless the person is politically important, I would imagine the tape would have been first turned over to the police - Germans are sticklers for rules like that.

 

My mother is from that very area. I remember mentioning watching something on the ZDF about COVID, and she said, "Where are you watching the ZDF?" Of course I had to explain apps and how they work and that the internet means that you can watch German television in the US.

So she then explained that the ZDF was the official broadcast channel of Germany and it had been there since at least 1980's before she left. So that might be a good place to start. Now, did they have a midday news program? I don't know. And no, I'm not going to ask her for you.

Here is the wikipedia page about that particular news source.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZDF

Here is the wikipage about their main news show heute, which is essentially their Today show... no, literally what it translates to. You can see if they ever did daytime broadcasts...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heute

 

Hmm. I suspected something of the sort, but I was kinda-sorta imagining some guy at a local/regional station would jbroadcast the tape at the soonest opportunity, to scoop everyone else. But maybe pressmen getting a scoop wasn't a German thing.

Oh, well. If I have to have it wait for an evening broadcast (after the police have reviewed it and approved parts of it for showing), I'll figure out how to make it all work.

For that matter, I may just have the news program show a still clip and summarize what was said. Maybe the police would restrict that, too.

 

I've just been watching old tagesschau broadcasts, especially those surrounding the kidnapping and subsequent murder of Hanns Martin Schleyer. It's depressing how minimal my German is. I wish I could understand what the anchors are saying.

(Not asking for help here, just venting on myself.)