March 24, 2023, 11:02 am | Read time: 3 minutes

At the end of March, the media library of Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) will be discontinued. The broadcaster announced this back in fall 2022 after holding onto its own platform for a long time—and it won’t be the only one. The reason lies in ARD’s long-term plans.

ARD Has Big Streaming Plans

ARD has had plans to strengthen its own media library for some time. Recently, it was also revealed that the media group has even bigger goals. Together with ZDF, they aim to create a streaming platform that could compete with major providers like Netflix in Germany, as ARD chief Kai Gniffke announced.

“ARD is tackling the biggest reforms in its more than 70-year history. To make ARD future-proof and align with changing media consumption habits, we will shift resources from linear to nonlinear formats. Over the next four years, we plan to invest more than 300 million euros in technology development. Initially, this involves expanding the joint streaming network with ZDF. We are currently working on common technical standards, a unified login, an excellent player, an easy-to-use search function, and a user-friendly recommendation logic,” a company spokesperson told TECHBOOK.

Also interesting:Why do you have to pay for ARD’s streaming service?

Part of this strategy seems to be centralizing the offerings of affiliated broadcasters. In the past, several broadcasters have already given up their own media libraries and moved to the ARD media library. This is expected to happen at the end of March with Bayerischer Rundfunk and ARD Alpha.

BR Media Library Relocates

Bayerischer Rundfunk is one of the largest institutions within ARD. This likely made it possible to maintain its own media library for so long. Until now, the content was widely available in both media libraries. This will end in March 2023; the BR media library will permanently move to ARD’s large platform. Starting April 1, anyone trying to access the previous BR site will be automatically redirected.

“Like all other regional broadcasting institutions of ARD, BR is also focusing on strengthening ARD’s five major digital platforms and concentrating joint energies on them: ARD Mediathek, ARD Audiothek, tagesschau.de, sportschau.de, and KiKa.de. With ARD Mediathek becoming the common home for all ARD video content as a major German streaming offering, the audience will have access to the offerings of all other ARD broadcasters alongside BR content,” according to the broadcaster.

The arguments against consolidation in the past mainly focused on the regionality of the offerings. People interested exclusively in Bavaria should continue to have a platform for that. Currently, the ARD media library features a tab called “Choose Region” under the main categories and the section for major brands. There, regional offerings like rbb, NDR, SWR, and BR are available. This concept will likely remain even after the BR media library is discontinued.