Program reform: How the ARD wants to reach more younger people

Program reform
How the ARD wants to reach more younger people

The ARD pushes a program reform in the next year. For TV viewers, this means gradually a new program schedule in the first in some places.

And users of the ARD media library should be presented with more content – more geared towards target groups and more diverse in content. The program reform, which is to be implemented step-by-step in 2022, aims to ensure that more younger people, who frequently navigate the Internet, feel that what is offered by the public broadcasters is being addressed.

Some details from the reform that the directors of the ARD houses agreed on on Friday:

Documentaries and fictional series in the media library: There will be exclusive premieres of documentary series on the platform every month. In addition, documentaries from the fields of politics, business, foreign countries, history, religion, culture and sport are to be regularly scheduled for the media library and a younger audience. Every year, there are also 25 premieres of self-produced and international fictional series. Series have been in high demand on streaming platforms around the world for years.

Comedian Carolin Kebekus will be present in addition to her previous shows in the program with an offer in the ARD media library. And a new personality show is being planned with Tahnee. Other broadcasters, such as the special interest broadcaster ZDFneo, are currently increasingly relying on comedy formats. The international streaming platform Amazon Prime Video also achieved success with German comedy this year with the “Last One Laughing” format with Bully Herbig.

Sandra Maischberger can be seen on two days in the first: Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The previous talk format «maischberger. the week »is no longer available, but there will be a new,« in-depth discussion format ». ARD program director Christine Strobl said that there may be “certain overlaps” on Tuesday with Markus Lanz’s ZDF talk. At the same time, she emphasized that the two talks should not be similar.

«Weltspiegel» continues on Sundays

Main focus on Monday: Monday evening at 10:50 p.m. in Das Erste, a new knowledge format is to be shown. The “Weltspiegel” format, on the other hand, remains on its previous broadcast day, Sunday. In the debates on program reform, there had been fear and resentment on the Internet if the format should migrate from Sunday to Monday in the program schedule.

ARD wants to establish Monday as a new “information day”. In addition to the nature film, high-quality documentaries and reports from the fields of politics, culture, economy, religion, history and sport will be shown on the broadcast slot at 8:15 p.m. This is followed by “hard but fair”, the “topics of the day” and the new knowledge format as well as film documentaries from the world of “Weltspiegel”. The previous documentary series and the “ARD Story” format are to be further developed and expanded to include multimedia.

Comedy show: On Friday evening at 9.45 p.m. there will be a new comedy show on Das Erste. ZDF was successful on Friday evening with its “heute-show” formats and the subsequent satire program by Jan Böhmermann. The programs start later than the planned format in the first. There will also be a new series of reports on the slot for the comedy show on Das Erste. The formats practically divide the transmission slot.

“Report from Berlin”: The political format is extended from currently around 25 to 30 minutes on Sundays and starts at 6:00 pm. Reporting from the capital and abroad is to be expanded. The ARD wants to set a journalistic focus. After “Report from Berlin” the “Weltspiegel” follows on the new slot at 6.30 p.m. and the transmission time is extended to 45 minutes (previously around 40 minutes, slot 7.20 p.m.).

2. Bundesliga: More of that should be shown on the first on Sunday – right before the “Tagesschau”. It should also be about top games from international soccer leagues.

dpa