Which side's television broadcast Schabowski's 9 November press conference live?
Answer
East German television
Which side's television broadcast Schabowski's 9 November press conference live? East German television broadcast it live.
Günter Schabowski's press conference began at about 18:00 CET on 9 November 1989 and was carried live by East German television and radio. During it, Schabowski read out new travel regulations and mistakenly indicated that they took effect “immediately,” helping trigger the opening of the Berlin Wall later that night.
The news also rapidly reached East Germans through West German broadcasters. ZDF included excerpts on heute at 19:17, while ARD led its Tagesschau bulletin with the story at 20:00. Because those West German channels were widely available in East Germany, they were crucial in spreading the announcement, but they did not provide the original live broadcast.
A common mix-up is therefore to answer West German television: West German news amplified the announcement, whereas East German television carried Schabowski's press conference live.