ZDFneo-Chefin Nadine Bilke über Binge Watching und Böhmermann

Fortunately, I didn't have to bring online back. Neo has a strong post-media brand with Neo Magazin Royal. All Neo series are available in the Mediathek. We launched the National label to emphasize how important online is for Neo. So it's actually an enrichment to be able to plan formats for a linear channel and across platforms.

Neo is always a bit ahead, so it might be entering puberty at ten. Of course, Neo has changed and continues to evolve. Its core mission is innovation, being the innovation engine for ZDF. It goes through phases. At the beginning we did more factual and documentary. Now fiction, entertainment, and series are a big core. We will produce more drama series, sitcoms, and European co-productions.

I think there used to be ZDFtheaterkanal, then ZDFkultur, and ZDFdokukanal became ZDFneo. But it seems like linear TV is dying. That's not true. ZDFkultur is no longer linear but was relaunched as a major project this year. But concluding that all linear TV is dying is premature. Three quarters of all moving image consumption in Germany is still linear TV. Linear TV is big and strong and reaches many people. But we know that under-30s use non-linear heavily. For Neo, with its core target group 25-49, it's important to look more at non-linear. The art is to plan formats across channels and platforms – that's the real rocket science in TV.

It has huge significance. It's a very strong, well-regarded non-linear platform with high user satisfaction. The colleagues in the new media editorial office do a great job adapting it. It has mobile, smart TV, web, apps. In terms of usability, the Mediathek is very well set up. Of course, content is also important. By now, almost all ZDF programs are available in the Mediathek before broadcast, except news. We have a lot of content in the Mediathek, not least thanks to ZDFneo. This shows that publishing has shifted toward the Mediathek, highlighting its importance as a future strategy for ZDF.

Of course not. I worked for the Mediathek for long enough. I'm happy to work from that side now, providing content and brands for the Mediathek. First, ZDF has a broader mandate than Netflix and also has linear channels. Netflix would probably be happy to have such reach, but they don't because their business model is different. ZDF has a societal public service mandate. At the same time, we make sure we offer content that Netflix customers also find attractive. But that's not all we do. I believe the Mediathek, with its series offerings and binge-watching options, can be very attractive for a video-on-demand evening. We are working on that.

Absolutely. I watch a lot of non-linear TV. I also occasionally watch linear TV, job-related or news, live events. But I really like series and I binge-watch.

It's clearly both. What we want is the product view. We look at what a show achieves across different channels. These are often complementary target groups. To place a format optimally, we look at different numbers and form an overall picture. We also look at social media for shows like Neo Magazin Royal or 'Shakira Schapira'.

Neo makes fiction series, European co-productions like 'Rita', 'Aller Grace', 'Countdown Copenhagen'. Also formats with personalities like Jan Böhmermann, Shakira, Laura Karasek who address the young target group with their own perspectives.

Neo has a budget of 40 million. That's never enough; we have many more ideas than money. But we can do a lot with it. We want to ramp up drama and sitcom series and continue European co-productions. We'll offer a good dozen series per year. We'll also pilot more shows and continue with factual. For example, we are doing a second season with Collien Ulmen-Fernandes on family, and Sascha Lobo will be back.

More series never hurt. More shows with different faces would be great. And if we want to be present on all platforms, we need different content for different channels. That hits resource limits, not just money but also personnel. But we manage to do a lot.

No, there's no specific quota. We try different slots, combine with Neo productions, and constantly change the schedule to offer the best program.

We use 'heute show' in the environment of Neo Magazin Royal on Thursdays. We also use good crime brands like 'Barnaby' which has cult character. In Christmas programming we had 'So ein Märchen' – cult classics that remind viewers of their childhood. Also 'Bares für Rares' with Horst Lichter, which runs younger on Neo than in the main program. It's about stories, people, emotions.

ZDFneo is always political. Besides Neo Magazin Royal, we have Sascha Lobo returning with 'Radikalisiert' about dangers to democracy from populism and conspiracy theories. That's a very political piece. Also our European co-production on terror threat in Europe. When we do factual on family and gender roles, that's also politics in a broader sense. These topics move our target group, so politics, sometimes current politics, will always be part of Neo's program.

You better ask the SPD that. I've been a fan of Jan Böhmermann long before I came to Neo. As a program director of public broadcasting, I think it's good that he reaches a young target group with political topics. He made privacy and data protection sexy and entertaining. That's great.

ZDFneo is the channel that made Jan Böhmermann and Neo Magazin Royal big. It's also the channel that gave Joko and Klaas their first game show paradise, that showcased Michael Kessler as a transformation artist, that went on a search for clues with Manuell Möglich in 'Wild Germany'. It's also a channel that offers entertainment and series. ZDFneo brought 'Mad Men', 'Orange is the New Black', and 'Louder is Not Better' to Germany. We will continue with own German productions in drama and sitcom, and also in factual we will stay active, looking back at experiments on racism, on the run, all highly political issues that Germany was not yet ready for at the time.

Faces are important when they belong to people who stand for something and have something to say from their lives and observations in society. For example, Sascha Lobo, with whom we worked, makes comedy about network issues that have social dimensions. Laura Karasek breaks cliches and stands for feminist themes and self-determination of modern young women. These are important faces for Neo because they stand for topics of our target group and approach them in a polarizing way. We work together to create cool programs and see how it works out. That determines if the collaboration is long-term or just a guest appearance. That's okay; we are an experimental surface.

It's not that straightforward. I don't see it that way. First of all, I am where I am. My development to Neo was a career jump in the classic sense, but above all it was a new field, new team, new topics, new opportunities. That's a big challenge professionally and a great job. What comes after, we'll see.