Thousands of euros: the additional income of the directors of the public broadcasters is so different
Created: 09/28/2022, 19:22
By: Stefanie Fischhaber
The directors of ARD, ZDF and Co. earn a lot of money with additional income.
© Imago/ Michael Gstettenbauer
The salaries of the directors of public service broadcasting caused a stir.
But some also earn large sums of money.
Munich – The public broadcasters are currently under heavy criticism.
Scandals and resignations, as well as the ongoing discussion about the GEZ fee, dominate the headlines on ARD, ZDF and Co. Last but not least, the salaries of the directors caused a stir.
However, research by the NDR has now shown that many directors earn far more money.
Salaries of the ARD and ZDF directors: Additional income of up to 25,000 euros
Many directors in public service broadcasting earn additional money through supervisory board positions or positions in other committees.
The NDR research showed: The additional income of the directors is sometimes in the five-digit range.
According to the research, the top earner among the directors is NDR boss Joachim Knuth.
In addition to an annual salary of 346,000 euros, he earns an additional 23,400 euros a year, including through supervisory board positions in the NDR subsidiaries Studio Hamburg GmbH and NDR Media GmbH.
Additional remuneration for ARD and ZDF: Different rules for the broadcasters
“The NDR press office points out that additional tasks within the ARD that are remunerated are published annually in the NDR annual report.
In addition, all secondary activities, whether paid or unpaid, would have to be approved by the board of directors.
The director of ZDF, Norbert Himmler, can also earn an additional 25,000 euros a year.
Anything beyond that, however, must be passed on to the transmitter.
The remuneration is also limited for other broadcasters: MDR allows an additional remuneration of a maximum of 5000 euros per year, rbb and WDR allow a maximum of 6000 euros in additional income.
Public broadcasters discuss additional income - BR and HR do without completely
The broadcasters NDR and SWR do not specify a cap.
Other broadcasters, on the other hand, do without any additional income: BR, HR, rbb, SR, Radio Bremen, Deutschlandradio and Deutsche Welle do not pay their directors for supervisory board positions.
According to the research, the additional income of the directors has fallen sharply since 2013.
At that time, all incomes were more than 10,000 euros.
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Whether additional income of this amount is necessary is also being discussed within the public service.
"I am aware that I earn well as director of the Hessischer Rundfunk.
If I attend meetings and gatherings in this capacity, why should I be paid extra for it?
The appointments are often during my regular working hours anyway, ”said HR Director Florian Hager of the Tagesschau.