There is a threat of a black screen for the European Football Championship: Millions of German households have to react to the end of the TV privilege

16 May 2024

A drastic change in television reception will take effect on July 1st, and the TV privilege will no longer apply to over 12 million tenants. Landlords, property managers and cable providers have been informing about a possible television shutdown for some time now, but not everyone has received this. FOCUS online says why this can cause problems at the European Football Championship.

Millions of viewers will be watching from home again when the European Football Championship kicks off on June 14th. ARD, ZDF and RTL broadcast many games on free-to-air television. However, the loss of the additional cost privilege could lead to black screens when it expires on July 1st. According to the European Championship schedule, the round of 16 takes place exactly then, really bad timing.

The measure to bill TV cable connections was introduced in the 1980s. Today more than 12 million households benefit from it. With the additional cost privilege, collective agreements were concluded with cable network operators for apartment buildings – usually on more favorable terms. The tenants then paid for these contracts through the additional costs. But this will finally end on July 1st, and this type of billing will no longer be permitted.

Tenants should check their utility bill. If it says “TV collective agreement”, “cable television”, “TV connection” or similar wording, you are affected. If the item cannot be found in the utility bill, then you may have an individual contract or receive TV programs in other ways, such as via satellite or antenna. In these cases you can sit back and relax, only cable TV customers are affected. However, the following applies: Many providers entice you with discounts and cheap tariffs. It may be worth looking for an alternative or a cheap offer. Depending on the method of receipt, a new contract can be concluded quickly – and the ball is clearly rolling again.

It is possible that landlords or property managers do not terminate the collective agreement. Possibly because they believe that the contract is beneficial for the tenants or because the notice periods have not been respected. In this case: Landlords are no longer allowed to offset this collective agreement against the rent. In extreme cases, you will be stuck with the costs.

In many cases, landlords therefore make contracts with their tenants or at least try to. Tenants should then pay the collective agreement directly, but tenant associations make it clear that this is fundamentally a gray area that should be clarified with a legal expert.

FOCUS online advises: Pay attention to notices or tenant circulars. Of course, you can also ask the landlord or the responsible property management company what applies to you. Often even the caretaker can help. But you have to take action and ensure that the TV contract doesn’t simply expire if you want to continue watching.

The statutory deadline runs until June 30th, but it may be that contracts have already been terminated before then. So you should make sure that TV reception is still guaranteed. Cable providers such as Vodafone have already blocked TV reception from households in several cities because they have not responded to letters. It would be particularly disadvantageous if your connection were blocked during the European Football Championship. But it is also clear that no one will turn off their TV reception spontaneously, but you should not use the reception technology without paying just because it is technically possible.

All households that have paid for a cable connection for many years but do not watch TV at all or only sporadically can benefit. Even those who prefer other reception methods no longer have to pay additional costs for TV cables. The idea behind the change in the law was to give customers the freedom of choice and, for example, to be able to use a streaming service from Sky (Wow), Telekom (MagentaTV) or Waipu.

You then only pay once – the contract that you have concluded yourself. You pay nothing for the existing cable reception, which is integrated into the rent. At the same time, DSL, fiber optic and telephone customers also benefit from the affordable “3in1” packages. Telephone, internet and television are then included in one tariff. With the current tariffs, this corresponds to additional costs of three to 20 euros per month.

The big losers include low earners and recipients of community benefits. While television was previously paid for through the rent subsidy, recipients of citizens’ benefit now have to bear the costs themselves. Low-income earners have to expect additional costs of 40 euros or more per year.

So it’s important to get your own TV contract if you’ve previously paid the fees through additional costs. For example, you can extend your cable contract, try streaming offers or use other reception methods. All that matters is that you care. Then you can also follow the European Championship games without interruption.