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How successful was Germany’s latest ‘Warning Day’?

For Germany's second emergency 'Warning Day' Thursday, all cell phones were set to sound off at 11am, but many stayed silent. Here's the verdict from the country's latest attempt to check its emergency systems.

Published: 8 December 2022 17:48 CET
Warning alert on German phone
A mobile phone receives a test warning on the official German 'Warning Day'. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Thomas Frey

Using so-called cell broadcast technology for the first time, all cell phone users in Germany with a German phone number were to receive a blaring emergency notification for the second Warntag (warning day). This was to test how well they would be alerted to an actual urgent situation, such as flash flooding or a blackout.

The technology sends out alerts regardless of the phone provider or if a person is signed up for them. Even if their phone is switched to silent mode, phone users receive a loud buzzing notification that’s hard to ignore.

READ ALSO: All cell phone users in Germany to be part of disaster ‘warning day’

But on Thursday at 11 am that was not the case for everyone.

According to initial information from the BKK, many Telekom customers in particular did not receive the warnings.

Another warning day is already planned for September of next year, in what will now be an annual test.

Deactivated test warnings in the phones’ system settings could also be a reason for the phones remaining silent. Many older models, such as the iPhone 6 or devices with Android 10, are also unable to use cell broadcast.

But the day was still deemed a “success”, according to BKK President Ralph Tiesler in a statement.

“According to preliminary findings, the nationwide Warning Day 2022 was a success!” said Tiesler. “The interaction of the individual systems has worked and people have become aware of the important topic of warnings. It is still too early for conclusive results. 

“We will now evaluate the feedback and thus be able to further optimize the systems. There’s still room for improvement.”

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) called the test “an important step” in improving how well people in Germany are protected in an emergency. 

People around Germany can also chime in with how well the test worked – or didn’t – using an official survey: https://warntag-umfrage.de/

Other warnings 

Even the warning apps Katwarn or NINA didn’t show an alert for all users, or only did 20 minutes past the 11am deadline.

Around Germany sirens sounded off, billboards flashed warnings at train stations and, in some communities, emergency vehicles drove through the streets broadcasting the test warning.

But some cities – including larger ones like Berlin – stayed particularly silent as they are not yet connected to a Modular Warning System. 

Berlin was also set to have 400 sirens installed by the end of 2022, although only 20 of them had been installed by August, according to the Tagesspiegel.

The importance of reliable warning systems was highlighted by the flood disaster in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia in July 2021, when people were not informed in time of the impending danger. Afterwards, a broad debate arose on how this could be improved.

Amid an energy crisis and war within Europe, many people are also hypervigilant about what Germany would do in the event of a wide-reaching emergency.

For previous emergencies, local authorities have relied upon sirens, loudspeaker announcements or radio and TV bulletins to warn residents of acute danger or issue evacuation orders.

There are also smartphone apps to keep users up to date on extreme weather in their area.

But Bild newspaper condemned the “failure” to take early action during the mass flooding in 2021.

“The sirens stayed quiet in plenty of places, very few alerts were issued,” it wrote, labelling the deadly flooding that followed “a disaster for civil protection, one of the state’s most essential jobs”.

The first countywide Warning Day took place in September 2020, without cell broadcast notifications, and was widely considered an abject failure. In the aftermath of the test, authorities were criticised for failing to learn from the issues they had experienced in time for the floods in 2021. 

READ ALSO: Germany questions warning system after flood catastrophe

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MEDIA

Licence fees and cuts: How Germany plans to overhaul its public broadcasters

German politicians are mulling a reform of public broadcasters ARD and ZDF, with cuts to TV and radio programmes and potential licence fee increases on the horizon. Here's what we know so far about the plans.

Published: 20 September 2024 17:02 CEST
Licence fees and cuts: How Germany plans to overhaul its public broadcasters

Everyone who’s lived in Germany for any length of time will have encountered the Rundfunkbeitrag: a quarterly licence fee that’s paid by households to shore up the country’s public broadcasters. 

As soon as you register at a new address, a letter comes in the post to remind you of your obligation to pay the bill – regardless of whether you’ve been watching these TV channels and listening to public radio or not. 

ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio are all funded by these contributions, which are designed to ensure that public broadcasters remain independent and free from political interference.

Though the some €8.2 billion raked in by these broadcasters each year is used more efficiently than by many private broadcasters, the licence fee is failing to cover all the costs incurred by these media behemoths.

The fee has also gone up by just 20 percent over almost two decades, which means a real-term cut in funding for the broadcasters as the increases failed to keep pace with inflation.

READ ALSO: Do I have to pay Germany’s Rundfunkbeitrag?

Against this backdrop, Germany’s Broadcasting Commission has issued a series of recommendations for a sweeping reform of the public broadcasters. 

Alongside cuts to core channels and numerous radio stations, the commission has also raised the spectre of potential increases in the monthly licence fee.

While the plans still need to be voted on at a meeting of state premiers next week, media reports on Thursday gave an inkling of what the overhaul could look like.

This is what could be on the horizon for Germany’s public broadcasters and their viewers. 

Are the license fees set to go up? 

For the meantime, no – but there could be.

Originally, the commission responsible for setting the fee – the KEF – had recommended a rise of 58 cents per month from the start of 2025. This would have taken the licence fee from €18.36 to €18.94 per month.

However, the latest version of the plans states that the licence fee will not increase from January 2025, but will initially remain at the current amount of €18.36 per month.

A remittance slip for German broadcasting fees

A remittance slip for German broadcasting fees. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Nicolas Armer

The question of whether to increase the fee will depend on the savings accrued by a number of planned cuts to services over the coming months. 

According to federal state leaders, the broadcasters aren’t expected to file any formal complaints if the increase in fees is suspended for now.

That may be because the proposals contain a mechanism for increasing contributions more in the future, by linking them to price developments such as inflation. 

What kind of cuts are we talking about?

Big ones, by the sounds of things. Following a meeting on Wednesday, the Broadcasting Commission announced that at least 20 radio programmes and around half of the ten TV channels would be abolished.

This would cut the number of channels down to around five or six and the number of radio programmes to around 50.

The cuts were confirmed on Thursday by Rhineland-Palatinate state secretary for media Heike Raab (SPD) and her Saxon counterpart Conrad Clemens (CDU), both of whom sit on the Broadcasting Commission. 

According to Raab and Clemens, the broadcasters will be able to decide themselves which channels to get rid of.

In the case of special-interest channels such as Arte, 3sat, Kinderkanal, Phoenix, ZDF neo, One or tagesschau24, four to five channels could be cut.

READ ALSO: Six ways to fall in love with learning German again

There are also plans to limit and reduce the sports rights budgets of ARD and ZDF, which would restrict the number of sports events that the broadcasters could air in the future.

When will we know more?

So far, the proposals haven’t yet been agreed on by the all-important state leaders – but they are set to meet next week to discuss a way forward.

If they greenlight the plans, a two-week public hearing will take place online to enable licence-fee payers to have their say. 

A final decision will then be made at the State Premiers’ Conference in Leipzig on October 24th and 25th.

After that, all 16 state parliaments will have to approve the reform package, which could then come into force in the summer of 2025.

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