Germany’s largest cable operator Kabel Deutschland is taking regional public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk to court over carriage fees.
The cable operator filed a complaint with Regional Court of Munich and a hearing will now take place on October 25.
The cabler’s move is part of an escalating dispute between the operators and the public broadcasters, who are refusing to pay a carriage fee for their distribution on the networks.
Last June, ARD, ZDF and Arte cancelled their carriage contracts with the three major German cable operators, Kabel Deutschland, Kabel BW and Unitymedia.
Until now, the broadcasters have been paying fees to the cablers to the tune of €60 million a year, but in order to reduce costs the public broadcasters refuse to further do so, claiming their channels are ‘must carry’ anyway.
