The Media Office of the Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media deals with the following issues:
Media policy and media law
The states of the Federal Republic of Germany ("Länder") are responsible for media policy in Germany. As one of the 16 "Länder" and an important media location, Hamburg performs this task in a variety of ways. Media law is governed by many different regulations and legal sources. The most important source is the Media State Treaty ("Medienstaatsvertrag"). It contains regulations for both public and commercial broadcasters, as well as for various types of telemedia such as media platforms and media intermediaries. Hamburg played an important role in the development of this treaty, especially with regard to regulation for media intermediaries. It should be emphasized that Hamburg is home to many broadcasting providers (TV and radio). In addition to the public broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), Hamburg is also home to many commercial radio stations. Furthermore you will find a lot of important publishers, advertising agencies and media intermediaries here in Hamburg.
Promoting Hamburg’s media and digital industries
Hamburg is the largest city in the European Union that is not a capital and one of the leading locations for the media-, digital- and creative industries, employing more than 100,000 people in these sectors. Our office looks after publishers, broadcasters, start-ups in the digital economy, the games-, the media- and the creative industries. We help establish new business models in the digital age aiming to defend Hamburg’s title as Germany’s city of content. To this end we have founded “nextMedia.Hamburg” – Hamburg’s regional initiative for media innovation and the home port for tomorrow’s content and technology. Together we make Hamburg visible as the digital media metropolis.
Media Dialogue and Music Dialogue
With the Media Dialogue and the Music Dialogue, the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg offers two formats for media policy and music industry exchange that are unique in Germany.