Is Stefan Raab planning his comeback?
What has he been involved in over the last few years?
Stefan Raab here at a stage appearance at the “BITS and Pretzels” 2017 in Munich.
© imago/VISTAPRESS
Is Stefan Raab planning a comeback? He seems ready to conquer the television landscape again. He’s been so busy lately in the background.
Byebye Brainpool, hello Raab Entertainment
In December 2015, Stefan Raab made his last television appearance on the 55th edition of “Schlag den Raab”. Since then he has only worked in the background on TV projects. Among other things, he has been involved in a comeback of “TV total” with presenter Sebastian Pufpaff (47) since November 2021 and as a producer in “Schlag den Star” since 2018.
At the end of 2023, Stefan Raab finally withdrew from Brainpool and the associated production company Raab TV. Raab and Brainpool got into business with each other in 1998 for “TV total”. Together they founded the subsidiary Raab TV. Since 2024, Brainpool has held the sole rights to famous Raab formats such as “TV total” or “Schlag den Star” or “Schlag den Besten”.
While “TV total” and “Schlag den Star” are still based on ProSieben, even without Raab’s involvement, “Schlag den Besten” has been broadcast on RTL with an adapted concept since 2024. For the Super Bowl on February 11th, RTL also showed the new show competition format “American Ice Football”. Stefan Raab was behind it as a producer in collaboration with Raab TV and Brainpool. As has been the case since 2023 behind the RTL quiz show “Blamieren oder Kassieren” with presenter Elton, which originally comes from “TV total”.
But since Raab left Brainpool, he hasn’t been idle. Together with ex-ProSieben boss Daniel Rosemann (43), the TV titan now has a new company: Raab Entertainment. “We have a lot planned and want to start the new year with a great team and lots of new ideas,” said a message on LinkedIn. The first project is a show during this year’s European Football Championship in Germany. In “The RTL EM Studio – All games, goals, emotions” Jan Köppen (41) and Elton report together on the highlights from the European Championship games.
“RTL high diving”
Things have also been sporty in the past: three shows written by Stefan Raab celebrated their comeback in 2022. However, while the “TV total Wok World Cup” (last broadcast in November 2023) and the “TV total Autoball World Cup” continued to be shown on Raab’s former home channel ProSieben, the legendary diving event moved to RTL almost two years ago. Ten celebrities compete against each other in individual jumping and seven celebrity duos in synchronized jumping. The third edition of the RTL format ran in January 2024. In addition, these shows have been under Stefan Raab’s control in recent years:
“Wok World Cup” and “Autoball World Cup”
Over the course of his career, Stefan Raab developed two extraordinary sports formats: the “TV total Wok World Cup” and the “TV total Autoball World Cup”. Another one followed in March 2020 with “The 1st Headis Team World Cup”. This was a “headball table tennis” tournament. Elton acted as moderator. So far it has remained a one-off live show.
“FameMaker” launched on ProSieben in September 2020. Carolin Kebekus (43), Luke Mockridge (35) and Teddy Teclebrhan (40) had to decide on candidates and coach them without having heard them sing beforehand. The candidates performed under a soundproof glass dome. Tom Neuwirth (35), who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014 as Conchita Wurst, took over as moderator. After the first season in 2020, there were no further episodes of “FameMaker”.
“The Thing of the Year”
The inventor show “The Thing of the Year” ran on ProSieben from 2018 to 2020. Stefan Raab not only provided the idea, but was also the producer. In “The Thing of the Year,” inventors competed against each other in duels. In the final, the audience voted for the best innovation. A team of experts – including Lena Gercke (36) and Joko Winterscheidt (45) – assessed the inventions presented. The third and final season aired on March 29, 2020.
“Free European Song Contest”
In 2020, the “Eurovision Song Contest 2020” fell victim to the corona pandemic. Stefan Raab quickly put together an alternative program. In May, ProSieben broadcast the “Free European Song Contest,” or “FreeESC” for short, at prime time. Raab was on board as a producer and described the show in advance as “the birth of a new, free European song competition”.
“Freshly roasted daily”
Just two months after the “Free European Song Contest 2020”, Stefan Raab announced another TV project – but not for his long-standing regular broadcaster ProSieben. From November 2020, the entertainer produced the late-night show “Täglich Frisch rosted” exclusively for the streaming service TVNow. After the show even moved to linear television on RTL, the show was canceled after 40 episodes in April 2021.