2024-08-29 19:31:34
Television viewers have known Jan Hofer for 40 years. The newsman was long known as “Mr. Tagesschau” and today he works for RTL. But now an era is coming to an end there too.
Jan Hofer is ending his career as a news anchor today. He will present the most important events of the day for the last time at 10.45 p.m. on “RTL direct”. It is still unclear what will happen to Hofer on television in the future. He wants to work on new projects with RTL, but he will keep details to himself when asked.
The presenter has already caused a stir with a TV farewell. When he said goodbye to the “Tagesschau” in December 2020, one image in particular made the rounds: him untying the knot in his tie. He demonstratively took off the item of clothing and formulated a few farewell words. His last appearance on public television.
That was almost four years ago. In an interview with t-online a few weeks ago, he said that he had not yet hatched a precise plan for his departure from RTL. He was not considering doing something similar to what happened at ARD back then: “That moment was also misunderstood. It wasn’t about the tie itself. It was about me wanting to get rid of the uniform. I felt that being forced to wear a suit was inappropriate and I wanted to get rid of it,” said Hofer.
The news anchor had some critical words to say. He found the dress code at his former employer problematic. “I don’t think it’s appropriate anymore to be forced to wear a certain style of clothing.” In fact, the ARD news flagship is slowly starting to move and no longer seems so stuck in its ways when it comes to dress code.
About a week after Jan Hofer’s interview with t-online, it is “Tagesschau” speaker Constantin Schreiber who makes people sit up and take notice with a statement along the same lines. “What do you notice?” asks Constantin Schreiber under an Instagram photo in which the speakers of the ARD morning magazine, Susan Link and Sven Lorig, can be seen on their show. On the screen in the background you can see Constantin Schreiber, connected from the “Tagesschau” studio.
What the 45-year-old ARD man means by this is that he is topless. “You’ve obviously recognized that correctly,” he later explains the current situation in public broadcasting: “We haven’t had to wear a tie in the night shows for some time now – now we can go ‘without’ in the morning show too.”
The fact that 74-year-old Jan Hofer initiated this change of direction years ago and underlined it with his recent interview statements remains a kind of legacy of the newsman. His departure after 40 years of TV news represents an even greater turning point for German television. And who knows: perhaps Jan Hofer will one day, in retirement, relax on the couch, and experience a first in the history of the “Tagesschau”. That is, when the 8 p.m. news no longer requires wearing a tie.