The new television year begins with the change that the previously one-hour “lunchtime magazine” on the first and second is now two hours long and starts at 12 p.m. instead of 1 p.m. ARD and ZDF alternate weekly. The Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) will be responsible for ARD from January 8th. The crisis-ridden RBB (Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg) preferred to give up the format as an ARD house.
There’s a lot else coming up for TV viewers in the new year. A lot of things about the broadcasters are still secret or only roughly announced. Exact dates are usually only determined a few weeks in advance. That’s why there is of course only an incomplete selection here:
“House of the Dragon”
The prehistory of the fantasy series “Game of Thrones” will be broadcast on free TV for the first time from January 8th. Every Monday, ProSieben shows a double episode of the global hit, which has so far only been shown on Sky in Germany.
Silver iron
In 2024 there will also be five of the popular “Feste” shows commissioned by MDR on ARD’s first channel. The format with Florian Silbereisen was in limbo for weeks at the end of 2023, with the exception of the first live show “Schlagerchampions” on January 13th.
Two bachelors
When roses are handed out again on RTL in 2024, it will no longer just be done by one “Bachelor”, but two “Bachelors” will be allowed to do it. The broadcaster wants the dating show to feature more dating, more smooching and more fighting. It will run linearly on RTL from January 17th (RTL will stream from January 10th).
Jungle camp
From Friday, January 19th, the classic “I’m a star – get me out of here!” back on RTL – it’s the 17th season. Camp residents such as footballer David Odonkor, No Angels singer Lucy Diakovska, influencer twenty4tim, model Cora Schumacher and actor Heinz Hoenig promise a lot of blasphemy from Australia’s jungle. The final takes place on February 4th.
Helene Fischer
After the ZDF with the Christmas show, the first also has hit queen Helene Fischer in its program in January – as the Saturday evening program “Rausch Live – The Arena Tour”. “ARD will show the pop icon’s concert highlight unabridged and with all the hits, thrilling acrobatics and fire and water elements on January 27, 2024 at 8:15 p.m. in a perfectly staged show.”
Heidi Klum
From February 15th, the 19th season of the ProSieben show “Germany’s Next Top Model – by Heidi Klum”, which is known to have the sensation that Klum is no longer just “girls”. “It’s very exciting for me that many men came to the casting for the first time this year. The atmosphere during filming is noticeably different. I’m really looking forward to this new dynamic,” Klum was quoted as saying in a statement on New Year’s Day.
Roland Kaiser
ZDF is broadcasting an anniversary show recorded in Offenburg (planned for February 24th) in which the 50th stage anniversary of the pop king Roland Kaiser (71) is celebrated. The Gala for Kaiser (“Santa Maria”, “Joana”, Loving You”, “Why Didn’t You Say No?”) is presented by Giovanni Zarrella.
“Who’s stealing the show?”
Most recently, Hazel Brugger, Matthias Schweighöfer and Florian David Fitz tried to steal the moderation from Joko Winterscheidt. Sarah Connor, Lena Meyer-Landrut and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf have been announced for the seventh season in 2024.
“TheVoice Kids”
Filming for the 12th season starts in Berlin on January 7th. For the coaches (again Lena, Wincent Weiss, Alvaro Soler as well as Smudo and Michi Beck from the Fantastischen Vier) the motto in the blind auditions is: onto the red chairs. Turn away. Listen – and hit the buzzer at the right moment for the best young voices. The broadcast is planned for spring.
Change at the Frankfurt “crime scene”
After almost ten years and then 19 episodes, the current Frankfurt “Tatort” team Janneke and Brix (Margarita Broich and Wolfram Koch) will be over in 2024. The Hessischer Rundfunk also wants to carry out investigations on the Main in the future. HR has already decided on the successor and will announce it soon.
Goodbye Göttingen “crime scene”
Maria Furtwängler is going back to Hanover as Charlotte Lindholm after her sentence – and colleague Florence Kasumba is leaving the popular series as Göttingen character Anaïs Schmitz. Investigate one last time and Lindholm and Schmitz together in the film “Ghost Ride” (February 11th).
Exit from the Franconian “crime scene”
The tenth Franconian “crime scene” is the last with Dagmar Manzel. In the eleventh “crime scene” from Nuremberg and the surrounding area, which will be filmed in 2024 for 2025, Felix Voss, played by Fabian Hinrichs, investigates without Manzel’s character Paula Ringelhahn.
Exit from the Dortmund “crime scene”
Commissioner Jan Pawlak is only investigating once more (February 18). After 13 crime novels, actor Rick Okon says goodbye. According to WDR, Peter Faber (Jörg Hartmann) and Rosa Herzog (Stefanie Reinsperger) continue to investigate as a duo.
Return of the “super talent”
The show “Das Supertalent” returns to the screens – Victoria Swarovski and Jens “Knossi” Knossalla are the moderation duo. In addition to Dieter Bohlen and Bruce Darnell, the jury includes “Let’s Dance” winner Anna Ermakova and the professional dancer Ekaterina “Ekat” Leonova, known for “Let’s Dance”.
DSDS
In recent years, the casting show “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” (DSDS) has always started in January – this time it will be later. For the first time there is no upper age limit. In addition to Dieter Bohlen, who is back on board as if nothing had ever happened, and Pietro Lombardi, the jury also includes the singer Beatrice Egli (DSDS winner 2013) and the rapper and influencer Loredana.
Passion
After the first edition in Essen in 2022, RTL is planning its live event “The Passion” about the suffering of Jesus in Kassel this time at Easter. The last days in the life of Jesus Christ are to be staged again on a “spectacular stage” and transported to today with well-known pop songs. Who will take part: still unclear.
25 years of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”
At the beginning of September it will be a quarter of a century since Günther Jauch first conducted the quiz “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” on RTL. moderated. How the anniversary will be celebrated or whether Jauch will slowly say goodbye: everything is unclear.
Series farewells on ZDF
The two crime series “SOKO Hamburg” and “Letzte Spur Berlin” will end in 2024. ZDF wants to invest more money in formats for younger audiences and will probably change a lot of its programs in the near future.
Series “Cologne 50667” ends
The soap “Köln 50667” ends on the private broadcaster RTLzwei in early summer. The performance of the series that started in 2013 is no longer consistently satisfactory.
Public service science fiction
ARD will probably broadcast a new season of the series “Charité” about the famous Berlin clinic in April. There is a lot of risk involved because this time the consequences take place in the future. The authors address the question: “How will knowledge and medicine, climate and society have developed in 2049?”
Kafka Series
This spring, ARD will be airing a miniseries about Franz Kafka, who died 100 years ago. Writer Daniel Kehlmann wrote the scripts in collaboration with director David Schalko. That should mean high quality and good entertainment.
SchleFaZ
The satirists Oliver Kalkofe and Peter Rütten have chosen “The Worst Films of All Time” (“The Worst Films of All Time”) for their project.
Eurovision
Evil tongues would say that Germany is again looking for someone for last place in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2024. But maybe it will rain a lot of points this time. The preliminary decision (“The German Final”) is planned for February 16th with Barbara Schöneberger. This time, NDR is relying on Conchita Wurst, among others, for the selection process. The international final in Malmö is on May 11th.
