ZDF Musikkanal was the name of atelevision channel operated byZDF which had started broadcasting on 1 January 1984 as part of thecable pilot projects inWest Germany. The station broadcast a moderated programme with a thematic focus on music. The programmes broadcast came almost exclusively from the archives of the ZDF main programme.[1][2]
The ZDF Musikkanal remained on air as an independent programme until 31 December 1988, and from January 1989 it was broadcast as a programme window before the3sat programme and was later fully integrated into3sat. Until then, however, it remained an independent programme brand for music programmes within 3sat until the end of 1993.[3] With the cessation of broadcasting on 30 November 1993 of the cultural channelEins Plus organized byARD and the associated participation of ARD in 3sat from 1 December 1993, an extensive programme reform followed, as a result of which the ZDF music channel's programme line was discontinued.
Initially, the station was broadcast only in the so-calledcable pilot projects: from 1 January 1984 in the cable pilot project ofLudwigshafen am Rhein, from April 1984 also inMunich, from 1 June 1985 inDortmund, from 28 August 1985 inBerlin and later in the regular cable network. With the abandonment of the program's independence, the station was available throughoutEurope as part of 3sat via the satellitesAstra 1A andDFS-Kopernikus from 1989 onwards.[4]
In the context of independence, a three-hour evening programme was initially offered daily, later this was extended to up to 6 hours between 16:00 and 22:00.[5] With the change to 3sat the station was only reduced from 14:30 to 17:20 on weekdays, on weekends there were no more transmission distances. Recurring programmes wereZDF-Hitparade,Disco orP. I. T. – Peter-Illmann-Treff. One of the few in-house productions was the studio programmeGast im Studio. Folk music programmes or classical music were also included in the programme.[6] Isolated series with a focus on music were also broadcast, such as the ZDF production from 1980...und die Tuba bläst der Huber broadcast in 1988.[7]
