TV & Radio

Watching the Cenotaph

November 9, 2008 By Graham 5 Comments

Every year on Remembrance Sunday I sit down at 11:45 to watch the wreath-laying ceremony at the Cenotaph in London, and from year to year doing so is getting more and more difficult.

Obviously this is a ceremony that is not shown on German television. Germany itself has its Remembrance Sunday (Volkstrauertag) a week later. For them, the 10th of November is the day to remember the Kristallnacht of 1938 when jewish shops and synagogues were attacked throughout Germany. The 11th of November is the start of the carnival season!

When I first arrived in Germany I was able to watch the ceremony each year on Sky News via satellite. Indeed, in those years the English bookshop in Frankfurt even collected for the Poppy Appeal. But when Sky switched to digital I was no longer able to receive them.

For a few years I was able to watch on “BBC World” on cable, but where I now live this is not available on Sundays.

So for many years I gave been glued to my computer screen and have watched the ceremony in a small window on the BBC News website.

But not today. After waiting for the link to the live feed to appear, just before 12:00 I started looked for alternatives.

First I tried the BBC World Service, and was at least able to hear the audio feed. Then at 12:03, just as the Last Post was sounding, the “live” button appeared on the BBC News website. But alas, when I clicked on it I received the message “Sorry, this media is not available in your territory”!

I tried the BBC News International site, but there was not even a mention of Remembrance Sunday on it!

Finally, I visited the Sky News website and found what I had been looking for: a large “Live Video” graphic. So I watched the end of the wreath-laying and the service online via Sky News. It was a good thing that I found this feed, as at around 12:15 the BBC World Service moved on to “World Briefing”.

So thank you to Sky for broadcasting this important piece of British history over the internet, and shame on you BBC for blocking viewers outside the UK!

Filed Under: TV & Radio Tagged With: BBC, Cenotaph, Remembrance Sunday, War Memorial

GEZ

September 3, 2008 By Graham 2 Comments

GEZ stands for Gebühreneinzugszentrale der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland.

The GEZ is responsible for collecting television and radio license fees in Germany. There are specific rules for calculating how many radios and television sets have to be paid for, depending on the type of usage and exact details can be found on the GEZ website.

Even people who do not own a radio (not even a car radio) or television set may be liable to pay if they own a mobile phone or a computer that can access the internet. These are referred to as “Neuartige Rundfunkempfangsgeräte”.

To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:

(Press the “play” button to listen to the podcast)

Download the MP3 file | Subscribe to the podcast

Filed Under: Abbreviations, German Words Explained, Podcasts, TV & Radio Tagged With: GEZ, TV License

KiKa Summer Tour in Wiesbaden

August 18, 2008 By Graham 2 Comments

KiKa is a German television channel for Children. Last week their summer tour visited Wiesbaden, so we took a break from moving into our new flat to go there for the day.

We arrived early enough to get a good view of the main stage and at the very front there was even a special area for children. After the first few acts we tried to get autographs from the main presenters, but the queues were so long, that by the time we got to the front they were in the process of leaving.

The main presenters – Singa and Juri on stage

Although there was plenty on offer, the number of children present meant that anything you wanted to do you had to queue for, which is why in the afternoon we spent 2½ hours queuing for the chance to climb up a giant loaf of bread!