Funk
Funk is an online content network of ARD and ZDF that launched on 1 October 2016 with more than 40 formats. The content is aimed primarily at adolescents and young adults aged 14 to 29 years. Funk formats are found on YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Twitch as well as on play.funk.net, in the media libraries of ARD and ZDF, and in the ARD audio library. In 2024, Funk reports generating more than 2 billion views across all platforms and formats. The joint institution of ARD and ZDF understands itself as a content network that currently brings together 60 independent formats. In total there have been 229. Funk uses youth-oriented communication and addresses the life reality and interests of its target audience. Entertainment formats are dominant, supplemented by reports, explanatory videos, and documentations. Editorial management is carried out by a central editorial team at Südwestrundfunk (SWR), which together with ARD, ZDF, and external creators reviews and curates content. Implementation can take various forms: content creators can act as producers or hosts themselves, production can be put out to tender, or one of the nine state broadcasting corporations or the ZDF can undertake implementation. In this way, Funk has developed as a leading public broadcasting format for content on social media. This is evidenced by Funk formats' high reach in the target group—88% of 14- to 29-year-olds know the productions. However, this success does not come without criticism, as Funk formats and their editorial leadership have repeatedly faced criticism for lacking journalistic professionalism, one-sided presentations, and excessive focus on opinion journalism.
Key Facts
| Social Media Accounts | ||||||
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| Platform | User Name | User Handle | Followers | Following | Likes | Views |
 | funk | @funk | 239,000 | 41,004,224 | ||
 | funk | @funk | 366,000 | 75 | 18,700,000 | |
 | funk | @funk | 1,700,000 | 267 | ||
| Active Transparency | company/channel informs proactively and comprehensively about its ownership, data is constantly updated and easily verifiable |
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| Language | German |
| Founding Year | 2016 In 2014, the Conference of Minister Presidents decided on a dedicated, online-specific program for public broadcasting. The decision established the target audience and organization between ARD and ZDF and outlined what would soon be named Funk. On 1 October 2016, Funk launched its program with 40 formats. |
Ownership
| Individual Owner |
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Facts
| Topics Covered / Focus Areas | Funk's mandate is to provide relevant, engaging, and informative content for young people between 14 and 29 years of age. It relies on a broad range of formats (currently around 60), with entertainment formats and (social and) political reporting dominating the selection. Funk regularly focuses on network-wide thematic priorities, often occasioned by social discourse or special events. Current topics relevant to the target audience play a central role: these include, for example, digitalization, climate change, social inequality, pop culture, EU politics, and diversity. |
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| Views / Values / Political Stances | Funk, as part of public broadcasting, has its programming mandate primarily with SWR. The network features many progressive and some moderately liberal-conservative voices. Compared to the TV programming of ARD and ZDF, hosts of formats are significantly younger and more opinion-focused formats are produced. Those who become part of Funk commit to adhering to public broadcasting principles (objectivity, diversity, balance) as well as refraining from advertising or product placements. |
| Mode of Delivery | Funk sees as the central core of its mandate the creation of relevant content for its target audience. It thus attempts to be present on all relevant platforms and follow trends in social media. Accordingly, the range of formats is broad. Among the total of 229 supported formats are journalistic collectives, documentaries, online talk shows, opinion journalism, infotainment, comedy channels, podcasts, and elaborately produced series in reel format. All in all, Funk content distinguishes itself through its professional production and research from other content on social media. Funk content is also always identifiable as such through the label or in the imprint. |
| Reputation | Scientific and media criticism studies generally evaluate the narrative depth of many Funk formats positively, but see potential for improvement in thematic, regional, and political balance. While the content is based on the life reality of its young addressees, which creates high acceptance, it is criticized that, for example, East German life realities and more conservative worldviews do not find balanced expression. Some Funk formats are criticized in the broader public for lacking professionalism, one-sided presentations, and excessive focus on opinion journalism—such as several reports from the channel "STRG_F" or in summer 2025 the format "BRAVE MÄDCHEN." The broader criticism of public broadcasting also does not pass by Funk—content would overrepresent left and progressive opinions and the provision of license-fee-funded content is viewed as a compulsion. |
| Target Audience | Funk's target audience is "young people on social networks," namely 14- to 29-year-old users of social platforms. In addition to German-language content, Funk has in the past produced formats in English, Arabic, and Turkish. |
| Part of Network or Campaign | Funk is part of public broadcasting and is thus bound to its programming mandate and standards. When one becomes part of the Funk network, editorial resources and professional production facilities are made accessible. In return, journalistic ethics, compliance with the Media State Treaty (§ 33 MStV), and the development and implementation of target-group-specific, advertising-free content are mandatory. The copyrights of all content produced by Funk remain with Funk. Nevertheless, content creators and their formats are not ultimately bound to the network. Some use Funk structures for growth and professionalization of video production and exit later. Prominent examples include simplicissimus, Mailab, Kliemannsland, and Y-Kollektiv. |
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| Cross-Posting & Friends | Funk content is regularly broadcast and promoted in the media libraries of ARD and ZDF, and in some cases also on public broadcasting TV channels, particularly for larger cooperative formats or themed weeks. Cross-promotion and cross-posting frequently occur between the various Funk members and channels: the network uses overarching Funk accounts on Instagram, Facebook, and increasingly TikTok for central distribution and repeated publication of older or successful content from individual channels. Within individual formats, cross-references, guest appearances, or links in end cards regularly occur to mutually generate reach. Explicit cross-posting on YouTube is, however, the exception—here the individual format channels are usually managed separately. |
| Endorsements & Recognitions | Persons from politics or public life regularly appear in Funk formats. Editorial standards and professional production help in engaging these public figures. As broadcasting carriers, ARD and ZDF are ultimately editorially responsible for Funk's content. Funk formats have already won nationally and internationally renowned awards, such as the Grimme Prize for ATLAS and STRG_F or the International Current Affairs Award for STRG_F. |
| Business Model | Funk is license-fee funded (€18.36 per month). |
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| publishing_entity | Südwestdeutscher Rundfunk |
| Revenue | EUR 45,800,000 / USD 49,464,000 |