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Schon GEZahlt?
This is a slogan Germans encounter everywhere: on TV and on the radio, in advertisements - be it in the movie theater, newspaper or throughout the city, in our mailboxes...basically everywhere possible.
Literally, the slogan means "Already paid?" and refers to the so-called GEZ (which is also included in the slogan - how clever). So what is this famous GEZ about?
GEZ stands for 'Gebühreneinzugszentrale' which is the radio and TV license collecting agency in Germany. It was founded on Jan 1st, 1976 by the two public TV stations (ARD and ZDF) and a public radio station called Deutschlandradio.
The GEZ works like this: If you have a radio, TV, a DVD Player, GPS and/or any device that you can get internet access with and that enables you to get access to any kind of TV or radio channels - be it a personal computer, laptop, cell phone with internet access, you name it, you have to pay this fee.
So basically every German has to pay it but a great deal of people don't and this is why there is such a huge amount of advertisements everywhere. There is an exception, however, for people with low incomes who don't have to pay the fee and there are some other exceptions that might be made as well, but many people who could afford to pay it do not understand why they should pay an additional fee if they already pay the cable station and probably most people don't even know the reasons behind the GEZ.
Let me give you a quick introduction to German TV services. We have public as well as private TV channels. Whereas the latter are funded mostly by commercials -and therefore have a TV program that includes a great deal of commercials-, the public channels are, with more than 80%, mostly funded by the fees that we pay to the GEZ and only by a small percentage of commercials. This 'mixture' of funding allows for an independency from the state and economy. In total, the GEZ does not only help to finance 21 public TV channels, but also 57 radio stations and a diversity of additional services.
So how much do we have to pay for this radio and TV license fee? This depends on which and how many devices you have. If you own a radio, a 'new device' (that enables you to use the internet or GPS) or both, you have to pay 17,28 € every quarter. If you have any of the following combinations: TV, TV + radio, TV + 'new device', or all three, you are required to pay 53,94€ every quarter. In 2010, they took in 7545,3 million € which is 58,9 million more than the year before. Obviously numbers of people who pay the radio and TV license fee are going up - even though there are a great deal of complaints about the GEZ and their infinte advertisements.
Here is a translation for you:
- Here you are.
- When I get bread rolls in the morning, I pay for them. I can't expect the others to pay for me as well.
Or when eating in a restaurant. I won't just walk off without paying.
...would be embarrassing.
At home, I have TV and radio. I pay for that. My GEZ fees. Because I need independent media. Because I need variety. Because everybody needs it.
(On her T-Shirt it says „Of course I'm paying.“)
And how about you?
- Be fair. Get registered. „GEZ. Schon gezahlt?“
For more information, check out http://www.gez.de

