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3sat (German pronunciation:[ˈdʁaɪ̯ˌzat],Dreisat) is afree-to-air German-languagepublic service television channel. It is ageneralist channel with a cultural focus[1] and is jointly operated bypublic broadcasters from Germany (ZDF,ARD), Austria (ORF) and Switzerland (SRG SSR). The coordinating broadcaster isZDF, at whoseMainz facility the broadcasting centre with studios for in-house productions is located.
3sat was established to broadcastcultural programmes, originally by satellite. The network was founded as acooperative network by Germany'sZDF, Austria'sORF, and Switzerland'sSRG SSR (formerly SRG SSR idée suisse). 3sat began broadcasting on 1 December 1984, with its first programme being simulcasted onFS2,TV DRS and ZDF.[2] ZDF leads the cooperative, though decisions are reached through consensus of the cooperative's partners.
In 1990,DFF, television broadcaster of theGerman Democratic Republic became a cooperative member of 3sat, and a name change to 4sat was considered. Eventually, it was decided to keep the original 3sat name. DFF's membership of 3sat was dissolved on 31 December 1991, as DFF itself ceased to exist under Germany's Unification Treaty.
On 1 December 1993,ARD joined 3sat as a cooperative member. This followed ARD's shutdown of its satellite channel,Eins Plus. 3sat is available on the EuropeanAstra satellites at19.2° east, on cable television, and in Austria and Germany ondigital terrestrial television.
In 2003, 3sat was available in 40 million households in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and 85.5 million across Europe. Since June 2003 3sat has been using a new on-air look and logo. The logo has a red rectangle surrounding the number three.
In 2005, 3sat andn-tv were criticised for broadcasting TV shows which were funded by relief organizations such asWorld Vision Deutschland andChristoffel Blindenmission.
In 2008, the programsnano andKulturzeit received a new on-air look and studios. At the "Eyes & Ears of Europe Awards", the design ofKulturzeit's studio was awarded first prize in the category "Best Study Design" atMedientage München in 2008.
In 2009 3sat had a market share of 1.1% in Germany, 1.9% in Austria, and 1.2% in Switzerland.
As a result of ZDF's spending for the then-newZDFkultur, 2011 saw the end of many long-term 3sat broadcasts such as3satbörse,Foyer, the computer and internet magazineneues, the animal showArche Noah, the legal magazineRecht brisant,Vivo and others.
On 1 April 2017, theDirektion Europäische Satellitenprogramme, which was responsible for the 3sat and Arte programs, was dissolved. Joint editorial teams replaced it with the other ZDF channels.[3]
