Pursuant to Article 24 of the Media Regulation (Medienverordnung), the Office for Communications (AK) is the regulatory authority within the meaning of Article 89a paragraph 1 of the Media Act (Mediengesetz). Thus, under Article 89b paragraph 1 of the Media Act, the AK is responsible for fulfilling all regulatory tasks under EEA law as the national regulatory authority in the field of media. These tasks include, in particular:

a) maintaining the register of media service providers and video-sharing platform providers within the scope of the Media Act;

b) receiving notifications regarding the broadcasting of radio or television programs or the provision of on-demand audiovisual media services and video-sharing platform services;

c) receiving documents subject to submission requirements and obtaining information in connection with the European Convention on Transfrontier Television;

d) prohibiting the distribution or retransmission of broadcasting programs.

A media service provider is a person who has editorial responsibility for the choice of audiovisual content of the audiovisual media service and determines the manner in which it is organized.

A broadcaster is a media service provider of television broadcasts.

A video-sharing platform service is a service where the main purpose of the service, or a separable part of it, or an essential function of the service, is to provide programs or user-generated videos—over which the video-sharing platform provider has no editorial responsibility—to the general public via electronic communications networks as defined in the Communications Act, for the purposes of information, entertainment, or education. The organization of such content is determined by the video-sharing platform provider, including through automated means or algorithms, particularly by displaying, tagging, and sequencing.

A video-sharing platform provider is a person who offers a video-sharing platform service.

An on-demand audiovisual media service means an audiovisual media service provided by a media service provider for the viewing of programmes at the moment chosen by the user and at his individual request on the basis of a catalogue of programmes selected by the media service provider.