Der schwarze Kanal
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Der schwarze Kanal (English: The Black Channel) was an East German television propaganda programme made up of bowdlerized programmes from West Germany with an added Communist commentary.[1]
The programme was hosted by Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler and began on 21 March 1960. The name "Black channel" is a play on words in that in the German language "black channel" is a term used by plumbers to describe a sewer. The name and the concept of the programme were originally a reaction to a West German programme named "Die rote Optik" ("The red viewpoint") authored by journalist Thilo Koch, which ran between 1958 and 1960 and analysed East German television clips. [2] Although the programme was primarily intended for domestic (East German) consumption, the programme makers (at least in the early days) hoped that those in the West who could receive DFF would also watch.[2]
The geography of the divided Germany meant that West German television signals (particularly ARD) could be received in most of East Germany fairly readily other than parts of Eastern Saxony around Dresden (earning the latter the nickname "valley of the clueless" for this reason[3]). Whilst radio signals from international broadcasters like the BBC and the American-backed local station RIAS in West Berlin could be jammed, it was diplomatically and technically awkward to block West German television as it would have been impossible to do so (with any degree of effectiveness) without affecting reception in parts of West Germany as well which in turn could have prompted the West Germans to retaliate against Eastern broadcasts.[1]
Although (unlike RIAS) most programming on the West German ARD did not target East German viewers directly nevertheless they frequently reported on news that the Socialist Unity Party of Germany in the East would rather their citizens were not aware of; they also presented a lifestyle that was in marked opposition to that in the East.[1]
The solution, as seen by Deutscher Fernsehfunk, was to record items from the ARD and ZDF that were unwelcome in the East or provided a different spin on a news story and replay the items on the main DFF1 channel with a commentary "explaining" what was really "meant" by the item, or how the item was "untrue" or "flawed".[1]
The programme was not popular in East Germany. In the book Stasiland, Anna Funder quotes an urban myth portraying engineers in power stations as struggling to stop a blackout from the power surge due to East Germans switching off their sets when the programme came on. This however may be exaggerated as viewers could have switched to DFF2 or even West German television instead. The programme was usually scheduled for transmission at 2130 on Monday evenings prior to a film or some other popular item in the hope that viewers tuning in early to catch the film would see the programme.[2] According to some sources official surveys gave a programme a 5% audience figure[2] although its difficult to verify the accuracy of such a survey in the atmosphere of cold war Germany.
The programme ceased broadcasting on 30 October 1989, just ahead of the opening of the borders with the west on 9 November, at which point the East German television service declared itself "free of government interference".[4] before merging with their formerly rival West German television networks less than a year later as a result of German reunification.
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[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Hancock, Dafydd (1 January 2001). Fade to black. Intertel from Transdiffusion. Retrieved on 2006-02-20.
- ^ a b c d Grape, Andreas (September 2000). Die digitalisierten Sendemanuskripte - Der schwarze Kanal (German). Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv. Retrieved on 2007-05-12. “With the transmission title black channel was meant also the west television, by itself the "dirt and Unrat, which would have to actually flow on the sewage farms", thus moderator of Schnitzler, into the dwellings of the spectators poured. Karl Eduard von Schnitzler, who coined/shaped the transmission by editorship and presentation as Chefkommentator of the GDR television considerably, wanted to serve here "to a certain extent as purification plant"”
- ^ Mitchener, Brandon (9 November 1994). East Germany Struggles, 5 Years After Wall Fell. International Herald Tribune. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
- ^ Schnitzler, Karl-Eduard von (1992). Der Rote Kanal (in German). Hamburg: Nautilus. ISBN 3-89401-211-0.
