Radio & TV in Germany
If you live off base and don't have an AFN satellite receiver, there's plenty of excellent English programming available, but you'll need German cable or satellite reception to get most of it.
People in Germany can get their television and radio three ways: terrestrially, via cable and via satellite.
You won't find much, if any, television in English without cable or satellite reception, though some radio in English may be available terrestrially, especially at night. Things get a little better if you want to pay for cable service, better still if you invest in satellite reception, and vastly better if you acquire decoders and/or a digital receiver.
The television stations that can be received without cable or satellite are ARD, ZDF, the Third Program and, in some areas, RTL, which broadcast entirely in German. (These are also receivable by cable and satellite, sometimes with better reception.)
There are about 40 channels on the cable (depending on where you're located). Most of them broadcast in German, but four of them are in English: CNN, NBC Super Channel, MTV and BBC World. Also on cable (as well as satellite) is Premiere World. It is digital pay TV and broadcasts in German, but it has a large number of channels, offering everything from sports and films, to children's programming and erotic shows.
By far, the most popular method these days to receive a large number of channels is to have a satellite dish installed. It is relatively inexpensive to buy the dish, LNB and receiver. There are a lot of package deals available in retail outlets. You may want to have a professional installer mount and align the dish. Make sure you have your landlord's permission to put up a dish. You will be faced with a large choice of receivers. The cheapest ones are the analog receivers. Somewhat more expensive are digital receivers. Many broadcast companies have already switched to the newer digital technology, but are still broadcasting in analog until the buying public catches up. If you buy the standard digital receiver that receives the standard "free to air" broadcasts you'll be able to pick up several English language channels, depending on which satellite your dish is pointed to. That's the good news. The bad news is that the channels you can pick up are pretty much limited to news, music, travel shops, some sports and shopping.
Several specialized magazines are available that describe in detail the offerings on different satellites and information on decoders. They also carry advertisements from different companies that offer the services.
The broadcast standard in Germany is PAL B/G, which isn't compatible with the NTSC system used in the U.S. You should buy either a PAL set or a multi-system set.
The U.S. military station AFN also has a terrestrial television program, but you must live quite close to an American base in order to "eavesdrop." The signals are weak, the transmitters are usually directional and an NTSC television set is needed.
Radio, Too
English-language radio is also available; a little of it terrestrially, more from the cable, much more of very high quality through the satellites. The last-named offer digital quality music, news, weather, sports, talk, entertainment and children's programming. Among the many agencies offering satellite radio in English are: BBC World Service, Bloomberg and CNN. There are English language programs from places as diverse as Ireland, Switzerland and India, and even a station of Christian religious broadcasting.
The British and American Forces operate radio networks, too. AFN is headquartered in Mannheim and the British Forces Broadcasting Service is in Herford. Of particular interest to Americans is the extremely powerful AFN AM signal on 873, 1107 and 1143 KHz. American sports events, news, talk shows and music are featured on this station. Programs can be picked up wherever troops are located: AFN in the middle and South; BFBS in the north. (AFN also has an FM service of nearly wall-to-wall music programming but the transmitters are low powered and you have to live close to a US military installation to pick it up.)