SENDESCHAU

SENDESCHAU
Name	SENDESCHAU
Genre	Television magazine
Country	Germany
Language	German
Runtime	45 minutes
Network	Das Erste
First aired	1952
Last aired	1984
Presenter	See section: Hosts and Notable Contributors
Related	Tagesschau, Panorama, Heute Journal

SENDESCHAU SENDESCHAU was a German television magazine programme that aired on Das Erste and became a fixture of postwar German television broadcasting, influencing formats across Europe and informing coverage related to Berlin, Bonn, Munich, Hamburg, and international capitals such as Washington, D.C. and Moscow. The programme intersected with major institutions including ARD, ZDF, Deutsche Welle, BBC Television, and Radio France Internationale, and it often covered events connected to NATO, the European Economic Community, the United Nations, and the Olympic Games.

History

SENDESCHAU debuted in the early 1950s during the reconstruction period that involved figures and institutions such as Konrad Adenauer, Kurt Schumacher, Willy Brandt, and regional broadcasters like Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Bayerischer Rundfunk. Its evolution paralleled developments surrounding the Cold War, the Berlin Airlift, the Treaty of Rome, and the Prague Spring, adapting its editorial line through crises like the Suez Crisis and the Vietnam War. The programme's archive documented landmark events including the Fall of the Berlin Wall, although its editorial prominence shifted with the rise of competitors such as Panorama and Tagesschau. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s SENDESCHAU engaged with cultural moments tied to figures such as Helmut Schmidt, Franz Josef Strauss, Adenauer, Margaret Thatcher, and John F. Kennedy.

Format and Content

The programme used a magazine format combining segments on politics, culture, science, and sports, featuring reports about institutions like the Bundestag, the European Parliament, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Health Organization. Regular features included interviews with personalities such as Pablo Picasso, Marlene Dietrich, Bertolt Brecht, The Beatles, and David Bowie, and investigative pieces referencing cases involving Watergate, the Profumo affair, and industrial topics linked to companies like Siemens and Volkswagen. The show incorporated live links to studios in cities like Paris, Rome, London, and New York City, and aired documentaries on subjects involving the Holocaust, Nazi Germany, Auschwitz survivors, and postwar trials in Nuremberg.

Hosts and Notable Contributors

Presenters and contributors included a wide range of broadcasters, journalists, and cultural figures associated with outlets such as Die Zeit, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Der Spiegel, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Stern. Notable names who appeared on-screen or worked behind the scenes included correspondents reporting alongside personalities like Peter Scholl-Latour, Heinz Dieter Runge, Günther Jauch, Christa Wolf, Rudi Dutschke, Uwe Johnson, Wolfgang Schäuble, Anke Engelke, Ulrich Wickert, Hajo Friedrichs, and interviewees such as Pope Paul VI, Henry Kissinger, Lech Wałęsa, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Ronald Reagan. Contributions also came from filmmakers and composers linked to Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Hans Zimmer, and institutions like the Bauhaus archive.

Production and Broadcast Details

Produced in studios operated by regional members of ARD, SENDESCHAU utilized technical facilities shared with programmes including Tagesschau and Heute Journal. Production teams liaised with international bureaus in Washington, D.C., Moscow, Beijing, Jerusalem, and Tokyo, and coordinated satellite links with providers such as Eutelsat and agencies like Reuters and Agence France-Presse. Broadcast scheduling intersected with major sporting events like the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games, and transmission standards evolved from black-and-white to PAL colour, paralleling developments at broadcasters like ZDF and BBC Two.

Reception and Cultural Impact

SENDESCHAU shaped public discourse across regions including North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, and Saxony and contributed to debates involving figures from Helmut Kohl to Gerhard Schröder. Critics in publications such as Der Spiegel and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung debated its editorial balance, while cultural commentators referenced its influence in the careers of artists showcased on the programme, including Klaus Kinski, Nina Hagen, Kraftwerk, and U2. The programme influenced later formats across France Télévisions, RAI, RTÉ, and NHK, and its investigative work intersected with inquiries involving institutions like the Bundesverfassungsgericht and legislation debated in the Bundestag.

Controversies and Censorship

Throughout its run, SENDESCHAU faced disputes over editorial decisions related to reporting on the Red Army Faction, the Stasi, the Soviet Union, and foreign policy debates involving NATO deployments and Vietnam War coverage. Accusations of bias led to complaints from political parties such as the CDU, SPD, FDP, and Die Grünen, and legal challenges touching on press freedom invoked courts including the Bundesverfassungsgericht and European bodies like the European Court of Human Rights. Episodes were sometimes pulled amid pressure from state authorities during events comparable to the 1968 protests and protests surrounding the 1972 Munich Olympics, prompting debates with media regulators such as the Landesmedienanstalten and international watchdogs including Reporters Without Borders.

Category:German television programmes