O News Program, When Art Thou On?

A very German question is “when is Tagesthemen on tonight?”. The longer, more in-depth news program on German public-service television is a good starting point or summary for the news of the day. In days long gone, you would probably look up the air date in a printed TV program guide, but in the age of Internet and data, there should be a better way.

From Propaganda to Public Service

After World War II, the Allied powers sought to dismantle the propaganda mechanisms that had supported the Nazi regime by establishing a new, democratic model of broadcasting in Western Germany.

Broadcasting had been a cornerstone of propagande in Nazi Germany. The Volksempfänger (“people’s receiver”) was a series of inexpensive radio sets developed in 1930s Germany by engineer Otto Griessing, following a directive from Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. Designed to be affordable for the general public, the radios were part of a broader strategy to disseminate Nazi propaganda widely. Goebbels recognized the power of radio as a mass communication tool and pushed for its widespread use to ensure the regime’s messages could reach as many citizens as possible.

Just getting Nazi propaganda off the air wasn’t seen as sufficient for postwar Germany: Rather than relying on state-controlled media, the Allied powers implemented a decentralized, publicly accountable system rooted in independence from both government and commercial interests, not unlike the British BBC. This led to the creation of nonprofit public broadcasters known as Anstalten des öffentlichen Rechts (“institutions under public law”), each overseen by independent councils representing diverse elements of German society and funded through mandatory household license fees, ensuring both financial and editorial independence.

In 1950, Germany’s public broadcasting consortium, ARD (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, “Consortium of the public-law broadcasting institutions of the Federal Republic of Germany”), was born. Its founding members included radio stations from the British, French, and American occupation zones.

By the early 1950s, ARD radio stations had become Germany’s leading broadcasting network, drawing millions of listeners. Their influence expanded further with the launch of a nationwide television channel. In 1952, ARD helped found the European Broadcasting Union (the organization behind the Eurovision Song Contest), further integrating German public media into a broader European context.

Public Trust, Public Trouble

ARD journalism today is respected and plays an important role as a reliable news source. But of course, the ARD is far from perfect. Criticism of ARD has come regularly from across the political spectrum, with both left- and right-leaning observers questioning the broadcaster’s impartiality and editorial balance in political content.

The financing model, based on a mandatory license fee (Rundfunkbeitrag), is also often critisized. Commercial media companies and some political parties argue that this public funding gives ARD an unfair market advantage, limiting the competitiveness of private broadcasters. This issue came to a head in 2020 when the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt blocked a planned license fee increase, leading to a broader political crisis and raising constitutional questions about the independence of public broadcasters.

And finally, ARD has occasionally come under fire for inefficiencies and perceived mismanagement. Overstaffing, high executive salaries, and questionable use of public funds are frequent criticisms. A high-profile case emerged in 2022 when the director of RBB (Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg), Patricia Schlesinger, was forced to resign amid allegations of corruption, nepotism, and misuse of resources—including expensive office renovations and personal benefits tied to public money. The scandal triggered investigations, public outrage, and renewed calls for structural reforms and greater transparency within the ARD network.

A Question, a Scraper, and an API

But let’s get back to the initial question on when the news program is on. In 1952, the debut of Tagesschau established a daily national news program that continues to play a central role in German journalism.

The additional daily program Tagesthemen premiered on January 2, 1978, as a response to the evolving needs of television journalism. Tagesthemen complements the more concise Tagesschau news bulletin by offering longer reports, background analysis, expert interviews, and commentary. It typically runs for about 30 minutes and airs nightly, usually after 10 p.m.

But when exactly? Without looking it up, it’s impossible to know. I don’t really need a printed TV program, but when is Tagesthemen aired tonight? It’s often at 10:30 p.m. – except, of course, when tthe program is not on at that time, but at 9:45pm or at 10:15pm.

There used to be a way to scrape it from the programm.ard.de website. But in 2024, ARD decided to completely rework the way the present the public-facing program guide. My old scraper for the air date stopped working.

Since it’s a public-service broadcaster, I decided to ask for Open Data at the ARD Play-Out Center in Potsdam which is responsible for the program guide data. Public Money, Public Good, right? In November 2024 I wrote an e-mail asking to get access to the program API for my little Open Data project.

Unfortunately, the answer didn’t come straight away. Lots of e-mails with reminders later, I got access to the API and the program data in May 2025. I already had a simple Flask application for an extremely simple website to answer my question of when Tagesthemen is on tonight.

And here it is: My one page single-serving site called “Wann kommen heute die Tagesthemen?” that gets its data directly from the ARD database. As a bonus, it gets not only the time, but also the presenter’s name. After almost six months of asking for Open Data access, I’m happy. Lets see what else can be done with the ARD program data API in the future.