Judith Rakers will quit as “Tagesschau” spokeswoman at the end of January. The 48-year-old is leaving at her own request because she wants to concentrate more on her entrepreneurial activities, said the public broadcaster Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR) in Hamburg. Rakers, who started as a “Tagesschau” spokeswoman in 2005, will be seen on the show for the last time on January 31st.
There will initially be no successor. Jens Riewa, Susanne Daubner, Julia-Niharika Sen, Thorsten Schröder and Constantin Schreiber continue to present the 8 p.m. main edition, which is seen by millions of viewers every day.
Moderator Rakers was quoted in the NDR announcement as saying: “After 19 successful and exciting years at the ‘Tagesschau’, it is with a heavy heart that I have decided to leave. It is time to focus my life on other projects to further expand my entrepreneurial activities and tackle new things for which there was previously not enough time in addition to the news shift work.”
Despite her departure from the Tagesschau, Rakers is not turning her back on television. She continues to moderate the talk show “3nach9” (Radio Bremen/NDR) and she continues to present episodes of the ARD travel magazine “Wunderschön”. A few years ago, Rakers also founded a production company to produce his own TV formats.
Rakers explained on Instagram that she had always worked as a freelancer for the “Tagesschau” and had therefore built up other sources of support. In addition to other TV engagements, she started writing books about vegetable growing, nature and gardening – “my great passion”. The Paderborn native announced her first children’s book. She is also working on a board game. At the same time, she is thinking about new television formats – “but I’m now giving up the daily shift work at the ‘Tagesschau’.”