2023-10-13 16:35:33
It was five years ago that the German Cultural Council recommended that all political talk shows be stopped for a year. Around “think about the concepts in peace“. In terms of implementation, this demand was about as realistic as the initiative to freeze the development of artificial intelligence for a while. Because of course people will continue to talk, because there are plenty of topics. In the talk shows, whether with Anne Will, Maybrit Illner, Sandra Maischberger, Markus Lanz or, more recently, Louis Klamroth (“Hard but Fair”), full and semi-experts speak about the respective crisis topics that are lined up one after the other – from migration to Corona to climate, Ukraine and now to the Middle East and back to migration.
As a supplement to the news of the day, talk shows have an important function – ideally, they represent different positions and interpretations of the hard facts. They contribute to the formation of public opinion. In fact, it is often about self-expression, confrontation, provocation, wrapped up in largely fruitless verbal battles. The increasing inability as a society to communicate with each other when there are differing opinions is also manifested in the talk show, which is often not aimed at finding a solution, but rather at a dispute.
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At the time, Olaf Zimmermann, the managing director of the Cultural Council, blamed the talks as partly responsible for a division in society: “More than 100 talk shows on Erste and ZDF have informed us about the topics of refugees and Islam since 2015 and helped make the AfD eligible for the Bundestag “He could still support the thesis today – you don’t have to share it.
The ARD does not see such a fundamental problem for obvious reasons. However, a lot is expected to change in the new year. The most important change is that the previous “Tagesthemen” presenter Caren Miosga is moving to Anne Will’s place. What is known is that Miosga, like her predecessor, will broadcast from a studio in Berlin-Adlershof. ARD stated that the show would be produced by the production company Mio Media – it is common for ARD to sign production contracts with companies in which the presenters have a stake. Which has its price, but more on that in a moment.
Criticism of uniformity
Louis Klamroth remains the presenter of “Hart aber fair” on Monday, but apparently switches to the production company of “Ansager & Schnipselmann” (in which the former presenter Frank Plasberg is involved). Florida Factualwhich belongs to the “Joko & Klaas” company Florida Entertainment – and was once founded by Klamroth and his cousin, among others.
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According to ARD program director Christine Strobl, the Plasberg successor is intended to appeal to young viewers who hardly ever turn on linear television anymore – and therefore primarily use the ARD media library. Strobl wants to make ARD’s three formats more complementary – and is focusing on accents that should come from Klamroth. The committee chairs’ conference, an important ARD supervisory body, had previously criticized the uniformity of the formats.
That’s why it would be strange if Caren Miosga, for example, simply continued Anne Will’s concept – one presenter, three to four guests. “Maischberger” has already developed its concept in recent years – and is now scheduled to play on Mondays in addition to Tuesdays and Wednesdays if it is convenient and “Hart aber Fair” is not on air.
Recently leaked via the industry service “Media Insider“ the remuneration paid for the ARD talk shows. They are officially highly secret, but in the interests of transparency they should be made public (like with the BBC), as citizens pay for the companies and their stars through the contribution. According to the report, the moderators earn significantly more than the top earner among the directors, WDR boss Tom Buhrow.
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Accordingly, ARD should pay 41.4 million euros for all three talks over the next two years. 13.2 million euros of this will go to Caren Miosga’s production company. They produce 30 episodes per year, as does Louis Klamroth’s production company, which is set to receive 11.7 million euros. Sandra Maischberger’s company Vincent TV produces significantly more, namely 125 issues in two years – for 16.5 million euros. The “media insider” report also mentioned the fees of Maischberger (2.7 million euros for two years) and Klamroth (one million euros for two years). These fees in particular demonstrate the importance that the talks have on the station. The height of this is a commitment to excellence, not routine.
It’s clear that ARD can and must change the concepts of the shows. The real achievement will be in getting people to the formats in the first place, whether on linear TV or the media library. Since we live in times of crisis, the task itself has to be solved – the only question is whether the forms of conversation are still appropriate. How varied can and must it be, how do you still get depth into the conversations, how much audience survey is needed, how many players?
As multifaceted as a conversation can be, as many possibilities as it opens up, in the end the possibilities are just that limited. It takes moments of truthfulness, knowledge, amazement – sometimes even outrage. They cannot be planned exactly – but the right framework is needed.
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