ZDFneo

ZDFneo

Logo used since 2017
Country	Germany
Headquarters	Mainz, Germany
Programming
Picture format	720p (1080p (DVB-T2 only)) (HDTV)
Ownership
Owner	ZDF
Key people	Markus Schächter
Sister channels	ZDF ZDFinfo
History
Launched	1 November 2009 (2009-11-01) (SD) 30 April 2012 (2012-04-30) (HD)
Replaced	ZDFdokukanal
Links
Website	www.zdfneo.de
Availability
Terrestrial
Digital terrestrial television	Region dependent
Streaming media
ZDF.de	Watch live (Germany only)

ZDFneo is a German free-to-air television channel, programmed for an audience aged 25 to 49¹ to complement the primarily older-skewing main channels of public broadcasters ZDF and ARD. It replaced ZDF's documentary channel ZDFdokukanal on 1 November 2009.

On 1 October 2017, the channel was to receive a new on-air design and a new broadcasting logo;² this was brought forward to 26 September 2017. The logo and on-air design was created by Julia David.³

In March 2026, it was announced that ZDFneo would merge its operations with ARD's similar channel One in 2027, with the channel rebranding as simply Neo and becoming a joint venture between the two public broadcasters.⁴⁵

ZDFneo is broadcast (along with the rest of ZDFvision) via DVB-T digital terrestrial television, receivable in most areas of Germany. It is also transmitted in DVB-C through German cable networks, and in DVB-S from the Astra 1H satellite.

Since 30 April 2012, ZDFneo has been broadcast in HD (720p).⁶ The channel was initially only scaled up by 576i, since ZDFneo had no HD-capable playout at this time. Since mid-May 2015, the channel is broadcast in native HD quality.

Source:⁷

ZDFneo's broadcasts mostly consists of comedy and drama series produced in-house. Shows imported from America and the United Kingdom plus a few documentaries, music shows, and movies round out the schedule.

• Die Deutschen ("The Germans"; history)
• Alisa – Folge deinem Herzen ("Follow your heart"; soap opera)
• Bianca – Wege zum Glück ("The way to happiness"; soap opera)
• Der letzte Zeuge (2009–present)
• Lafer! Lichter! Lecker! ("Lafer, Lichter, delicious!"; talk, cooking)
• Terra X (history)
• Abenteuer Wissen ("Knowledge Adventure"; science, history)
• Neues aus der Anstalt ("News from the (mental) institution"; cabaret)
• Helen Dorn (2014–present)
• Heute Show (satire)
• Lena: Liebe meines Lebens ("Lena: Love of my Life"; soap opera)
• Neo Magazin Royale (late-night satire talk show; continuation of NeoMagazin mit Jan Böhmermann which was aired on ZDFneo)

• Bambule (culture/current affairs)
• Comedy Lab (comedy)
• Crystal Wall (romance-crime drama)⁸
• Hochzeitsfieber! ("Wedding Fever!"; living)
• Iss oder quizz (game show)
• neoLeben (living)
• Neo Magazin (Talk show)
• neoMusik (music)
• Schulz & Böhmermann (talk show)
• Der Straßenchor ("The Street Choir"; music)
• Süper Tiger Show (comedy)

• 
  ZDFneo (2009–2017)
• 
  ZDFneo HD (2012–2017)
• 
  ZDFneo (since 26 September 2017)

	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December	Annual average
200911	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
201012	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
201113	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.4%	0.4%	0.4%	0.4%	0.5%	0.4%
201214	0.5%	0.5%	0.5%	0.6%	0.7%	0.7%	0.7%	0.6%	0.7%	0.7%	0.7%	0.8%	0.6%
201315	0.8%	0.8%	0.9%	1.0%	0.9%	1.0%	1.0%	0.9%	1.1%	1.1%	1.2%	1.2%	1.0%
201416	1.2%	1.2%	1.1%	1.2%	1.3%	1.2%	1.3%	1.4%	1.5%	1.4%	1.3%	1.4%	1.3%
201517	1.4%	1.5%	1.6%	1.6%	1.6%	1.7%	1.7%	1.7%	1.7%	1.5%	1.6%	1.8%	1.6%
201618	1.5%	1.6%	1.5%	1.7%	2.0%	2.0%	2.3%	2.5%	2.4%	2.4%	2.6%	2.4%	2.1%
201719	2.5%	2.7%	2.9%	2.5%	3.0%	3.0%	2.8%	3.2%	3.3%	2.9%