Das Erste is jointly operated by the nine regional public broadcasting corporations that are members of the ARD.

[3] The new channel consisted of jointly-produced shows such as the nightly news programme Tagesschau (on the air since 26 December 1952), as well as broadcasts produced individually by ARD member stations.

Broadcast of Das Erste HD began in February 2010 with the coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

All nine of Germany's regional public-broadcasting organizations contribute to the output of Das Erste and broadcast its programming in a common schedule.

Each regional member of ARD contributes programming to the channel's schedule in proportion to the population of the area it serves.

However, the transmitters were powerful enough that Das Erste [[Signal overspill|had a gigantic reach and could be accessed freely in neighboring countries and also in East Germany, where the channel recorded audiences much larger than the Deutscher Fernsehfunk (the former public broadcaster).Exceptions for the signal included Dresden, located in a deep valley in southeastern East Germany, and the area around Rügen island.

Das Erste is available throughout Europe on free-to-air digital satellite television via Astra, as well as on many cable providers.