German Television & Radio Vocabulary
This set covers the words you need to talk about German TV and radio: der Fernseher for the physical television set, die Sendung for a broadcast or program, and der Rundfunk for broadcasting as an institution. The trap is die Nachricht: it looks like it should mean "news" but on its own it just means a single message, so "the news" on TV is die Nachrichten, plural.
Learn these 18 words
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All 18 words
watch television
Lass uns heute Abend mal fernsehen. — Let's watch television this evening.
plural: die Nachrichten
message
Ich sehe abends immer die Nachrichten im Fernsehen. — I always watch the news on television in the evening.
radio
Ich höre im Auto gern Radio. — I like to listen to the radio in the car.
plural: die Sendungen
broadcast, program
Welche Sendungen schaust du gern an? – Ich mag Sportsendungen. — Which programs do you like to watch? - I like sports programs.
plural: die Antennen
antenna
Ohne Antenne bekommen wir kein Signal. — Without an antenna we get no signal.
plural: die Dokumentationen
documentary
Ich sehe gern Dokumentationen über die Natur. — I like watching documentaries about nature.
plural: die Fernseher
television
Der Fernseher ist schon wieder kaputt. — The television is broken again.
plural: die Hörer
listener, receiver
Die Sendung hat viele Hörer und Hörerinnen. — The broadcast has many listeners.
plural: die Interviews
interview
Ich habe im Fernsehen ein interessantes Interview mit zwei Schauspielern gesehen. — I watched an interesting interview with two actors on television.
plural: die Kanäle
channel
Mit Kabel bekommen Sie über 30 Fernsehkanäle. — With cable you get over 30 television channels.
plural: die Reportagen
report, documentary
Hast du die Reportage über Afrika gesehen? — Did you watch the documentary about Africa?
plural: die Sender
broadcaster, channel
Welchen Sender siehst du am liebsten? — Which channel do you like to watch most?
plural: die Serien
series, TV series
Meine Tochter liebt es, im Fernsehen Serien zu schauen. — My daughter loves watching TV series on television.
plural: die Studios
studio
Zu Gast im Studio sind heute ... — Today's guest in the studio is...
plural: die Moderatoren
presenter / host
Der Moderator führt charmant durch die Sendung. — The presenter guides the show charmingly.
broadcasting / radio
Der Rundfunk informiert die Bevölkerung täglich. — Broadcasting informs the population daily.
plural: die Rundfunksender
radio transmitter
Der Rundfunksender sendet das Programm bundesweit aus. — The radio transmitter broadcasts the program nationwide.
plural: die Staffeln
a season (of a TV show)
Die erste Staffel der Serie war sehr beliebt. — The first season of the series was very popular.
How to learn this set
Notice how many words here share the -er ending for people and devices doing the broadcasting: der Fernseher (the TV set), der Hörer (the listener, or a telephone receiver), der Moderator, der Sender. Drill der Sender against der Rundfunksender specifically, since one is a general broadcaster and the other narrows it to a radio transmitter station. For die Staffel, practice it inside a full sentence like "Die dritte Staffel der Serie läuft im Radio" so the word doesn't just sit there as an isolated translation of "season."
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kanal the same as Sender in German?
Not quite. Der Kanal is the channel number or slot you tune to (Kanal 1, ARD auf Kanal 3), while der Sender is the broadcasting company or station itself (ARD, ZDF, RTL). In everyday speech Germans do blur the two, but Sender is the safer word when you mean the actual broadcaster.
What is the difference between die Sendung and die Serie?
Die Sendung is the broad word for any single broadcast or program, whether it's the news, a talk show, or one episode of a series. Die Serie is specifically a TV series with multiple episodes, and its seasons are called die Staffel, not die Season.
Does Nachricht mean 'news' in German?
Die Nachricht on its own means a message, like a text or a piece of information. For the TV news broadcast, Germans say die Nachrichten in the plural, or die Tagesschau for the specific ARD news program.
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