Broadcasting Fee

Do I have to pay the broadcasting fee too?

The “Rundfunkbeitrag” is a license fee for public service broadcasting.

It covers the cost of producing radio and TV programs from the TV stations ARD (Das Erste) and ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen) and Deutschlandradio.

Any household in Germany is legally obliged to pay this quarterly fee, regardless of whether or not you watch the TV channels or listen to the radio stations covered by it. It also covers media consumption online accessed via computer or smartphone, as well as in-car audio.

Shared households (Wohngemeinschaften) are only required to pay this per household, so four students living together for example would only be liable for paying the fee once.