Almost five years of the broadcasting fee, time for a shocking assessment: ARD and ZDF present it as a success story with a significant billion-plus. Everyone who resides in Germany must pay their television compulsory fee - for a lifetime, without exception. All of Germany is trapped in the country's largest compulsory association with 45 million "contribution accounts." This is how the contribution service, the collection agency of ARD and ZDF, refers to its compulsory customers. It sounds inhumane, and indeed, the former GEZ is facing increasing problems with the people behind the "contribution accounts": they are putting up stubborn resistance. Nearly 5 million are on a payment strike, over 1.4 million are risking enforcement actions, and more and more are ending up in jail. The lords of the broadcasting fee are battling against a new mass movement. Markus Mähler has been researching this for years and knows them all: the key figures.