Children's broadcasting in Germany (public and private television as well as radio) is traditionally educational broadcasting that aims to show and explain the world to children, and seeks to motivate them to discover and use their creativity and imagination. It occurs in different types of programs and employs a variety of literary and journalistic forms to reach its goals. A typical German educational television program, "The Show with the Mouse," represents some of the characteristic features of German educational television: (1) a mixture of literary and journalistic forms; (2) a figure children can identify with integrates the mixture of the show; (3) the journalistic reports explain topics in a playful way; (4) a lot of time, money, and technical equipment are devoted to the production of the explanatory films and documentaries; and (5) most of the films and variety shows are produced in Germany or in cooperation with other European countries. Children's broadcasting includes literacy programs, journalistic programs and programs that mix both elements. The old, public service television system has to compete with the new private channels. Competition between shows produced for children and those initially meant for adults (such as the American program "Knightrider") is the rule, not the exception. The strength of the German tradition in educational broadcasting and the competition for the audience has resulted in considerable pluralism and variety of programming. (A chart of the types of educational programming in television and radio is attached.) (RS)