In November 2009 the administrative board of the public broadcaster ZDF voted on extending the contract of its editor-in-chief, Nikolaus Brender. Roland Koch, the premier of Hesse and deputy chair of the board, opposed the extension and pointed to falling ratings for ZDF’s news programs. Brender received seven of fourteen votes. He needed nine. Journalists, among them the ZDF anchor Claus Kleber, protested against party-political influence. On 25 March 2014 the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that members close to the state may hold no more than one third of the seats on ZDF’s Television Council.