Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Rundfunkversorgung

The Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Rundfunkversorgung (GARV) mbH is a German company founded on 22 December 1993 as a joint venture of the Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg (ORB), the Landesrundfunkzentrale Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (LRZ) and the Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg (MABB). Its seat was in Berlin. After the merger of SFB and ORB into Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), RBB took over the shareholding in GARV. GARV's remit, based on the media and state broadcasting laws of the respective federal states and on the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag, was to promote broadcasting coverage in Berlin, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and to represent the joint interests of its shareholders in the field of broadcasting provision. The company also participated in mass-media and telecommunications development and provided services to third parties, including renting and operating transmitter networks and holding stakes in companies with such tasks. In this way GARV supported the build-up of new transmission capacities and their coordination to enable area-wide reception of private and public radio and TV programmes, and it improved the infrastructure of the regional states. GARV initiated and managed pilot projects with new digital technologies and coordinated the technical side of the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting. It was responsible for and advanced the build-up and expansion of various transmission paths such as DVB-T, DAB and DVB-H. It also produced reception forecasts for broadcasting reception. The company was represented by members of its shareholders' meeting: Hans Hege (Director of MABB and chairman of the shareholders' meeting), Hannelore Steer (ORB/RBB radio director) and Joachim Steinmann (Director of LRZ). Uwe Hense was managing director from the founding. Within its remit GARV carried out a very significant DAB pilot project. From 1995 to 1997 a new digital audio broadcasting system was built up; by 1997 reception of more than 26 radio programmes in CD-like quality was possible, including the transmission of centrally or regionally fed programme-dependent and programme-independent additional data, including a DAB-supported dynamic navigation system. The pilot project was successfully concluded in June 1998. A joint project office of Deutsche Telekom, MABB and GARV was set up to coordinate all tasks in the pilot project. It achieved the first realisation of functioning single-frequency networks in the L-band. Through the realisation of single-frequency networks of different sizes in the L-band, high-quality coverage was provided in the topographically and morphologically difficult Berlin agglomeration with the capital's specific building situation. At the conclusion of the pilot project there were the following DAB single-frequency networks in digital quality for coverage with 26 radio programmes: Telekom's frequency block in the L-band LE for Brandenburg, consisting of 8 transmitters with a technical reach of 86% of the population and 38% of the area; Telekom's frequency block in the VHF range K12D for Brandenburg, consisting of 3 transmitters with a technical reach of 70% of the population and 22% of the area; Telekom's frequency block in the L-band LI for Berlin, consisting of 2 transmitters with a technical reach of 95% of the population and 89% of the area; and the frequency block of Sender Freies Berlin SFB and Deutschlandradio in the VHF range K8C, consisting of 2 transmitters. GARV also carried out a pilot project for digital terrestrial television broadcasting. After successful cooperation in the DAB project, MABB and DTAG declared in mid-1996 their intention to carry out a project to test the digital terrestrial television system DVB-T in the Berlin-Potsdam region. Trial operation began at IFA 1997. First planning concepts followed.

The Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Rundfunkversorgung (GARV) mbH was founded on 22 December 1993 as a company with limited liability (GmbH). It emerged as a joint company of the Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg (ORB), the Landesrundfunkzentrale Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (LRZ) and the Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg (MABB), and had its seat in Berlin. After the merger of SFB and ORB into Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), RBB took over the shareholding in GARV. On the basis of the media and state broadcasting law provisions applicable in the respective federal states, including those of the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag, a large number of tasks arose for GARV. On the one hand, the promotion of broadcasting coverage in the states of Berlin, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; on the other, the representation of the joint interests of the shareholders in the field of broadcasting provision. The company participated in further tasks in the area of mass media and telecommunications development and provided services to third parties, including renting and operating transmitter networks and holding stakes in companies with such tasks. Thus GARV took account of the build-up of new transmission capacities and their coordination in order to enable area-wide reception of private and public radio and TV programmes. The company also improved the infrastructure of the regional states. GARV initiated and managed pilot projects with new digital technologies; it coordinated the technical side of the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting. It was also responsible for and advanced the build-up and expansion of various transmission paths such as DVB-T, DAB and DVB-H. In addition, GARV determined reception forecasts for broadcasting reception. GARV was represented by its members in the shareholders' meeting: Hans Hege (Director of MABB and chairman of the shareholders' meeting), Hannelore Steer (ORB/RBB radio director) and Joachim Steinmann (Director of LRZ). Uwe Hense was managing director from the founding. Within its remit, a very significant pilot project was carried out by GARV: the successful testing of all essential components of the complex DAB system. In the period from 1995 to 1997 a new digital audio broadcasting system was built up. By 1997 reception of more than 26 radio programmes in CD-like quality was already possible, including the transmission of centrally or regionally fed programme-dependent and programme-independent additional data, including a DAB-supported dynamic navigation system. This pilot project was successfully concluded in June 1998. A joint project office of Deutsche Telekom, MABB and GARV was set up to coordinate all tasks in the pilot project. It succeeded in the first realisation of functioning single-frequency networks in the L-band. Through the realisation of single-frequency networks of different sizes in the L-band, high-quality coverage was provided in the topographically and morphologically difficult Berlin agglomeration with the specific building situation of the capital. At the conclusion of the pilot project there were the following DAB single-frequency networks in digital quality for coverage with 26 radio programmes: Telekom's frequency block in the L-band LE for Brandenburg, consisting of 8 transmitters and a technical reach of 86% of the population and 38% of the area; Telekom's frequency block in the VHF range K12D for Brandenburg, consisting of 3 transmitters and a technical reach of 70% of the population and 22% of the area; Telekom's frequency block in the L-band LI for Berlin, consisting of 2 transmitters and a technical reach of 95% of the population and 89% of the area; and the frequency block of Sender Freies Berlin SFB and Deutschlandradio in the VHF range K8C, consisting of 2 transmitters. GARV also carried out a pilot project for digital terrestrial television broadcasting. After successful cooperation in the DAB project, MABB and DTAG declared in mid-1996 their intention to carry out a project to test the digital terrestrial television system DVB-T in the Berlin-Potsdam region. Trial operation began at IFA 1997. First planning concepts followed. The joint activities culminated in the first official start of DVB-T broadcasting on the four TV channels 43, 46, 59 (transmitter operator DTAG) and 37 (transmitter operator SFB). At the same time MABB and DTAG concluded a written agreement to carry out the DVB-T project in Berlin-Brandenburg, which set the framework for the project period dated to the end of 1999. The main goal of the project was to provide an optimal technical basis for the complex testing and future market introduction of the DVB-T system in the important and interesting Berlin-Potsdam area. The following project goals were therefore defined: build-up of a stable transmission platform for at least 5 TV channels with associated system technology; verification of the operability of the DVB-T overall system and individual components in the trial field of various transmission modes and reception situations (stationary, portable, mobile); investigation of coverage and reception conditions in heavily built-up areas and subsequent extension to surrounding rural regions of Brandenburg through trials with single-frequency networks; testing of various multimedia forms of use (TV, data, audio, data broadcast applications); testing of terminal devices of the most varied configurations, including PC on the provided DVB-T platform; conducting investigations into market introduction strategy involving the participating programme providers; and testing and optimisation of...

• 1999

  DVB-T project period dated to the end of 1999.

• 1998

  DAB pilot project successfully concluded in June 1998.

• 1997

  By 1997 reception of more than 26 radio programmes in CD-like quality was possible; DVB-T trial operation begins at IFA 1997.

• 1996

  MABB and DTAG declare intention to carry out a DVB-T pilot project in the Berlin-Potsdam region.

• 1995

  Start of the DAB pilot project (1995–1997) to build a new digital audio broadcasting system.

• 1993

  GARV mbH founded on 22 December as a joint company of ORB, LRZ and MABB, with seat in Berlin.

A joint public-broadcasting infrastructure company promoting and coordinating radio and TV coverage in Berlin, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and a pioneer of digital terrestrial broadcasting in Germany.

• DAB pilot project

  A pilot project from 1995 to 1997 building a new digital audio broadcasting system, achieving reception of more than 26 radio programmes in CD-like quality and the first realisation of functioning single-frequency networks in the L-band.

• DVB-T pilot project

  A pilot project for digital terrestrial television broadcasting in the Berlin-Potsdam region, with trial operation beginning at IFA 1997 and the first official DVB-T broadcast on four TV channels.

1. 1garv.de – Aktuell, relevant, vielseitig: Dein News-Hubgarv.de
2. 2Über uns - Die Stimme der Vielfalt auf GARV.de - garv.degarv.de
3. 3Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Rundfunkversorgungwikidata.org
4. 4Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Rundfunkversorgungde.wikipedia.org