"Tatort", "DSDS" and Helene Fischer - the TV highlights of 2024

Outlook - "Tatort", "DSDS" and Helene Fischer - the TV highlights of 2024

The new television year begins with the change that the previously one-hour "Mittagsmagazin" program on the first and second channels is now two hours long and starts at 12 noon instead of 1 pm. ARD and ZDF will alternate weekly.

As of January 8, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) will be responsible for ARD. The crisis-ridden RBB(Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg) preferred to hand over the format as an ARD house.

There is also a lot in store for TV viewers in the new year. Many of the broadcasters' plans are still secret or have only been roughly announced. Exact dates are usually only known a few weeks in advance. That's why this is only an incomplete selection:

"House of the Dragon": the prequel to the fantasy series "Game of Thrones" will be broadcast on free TV for the first time from January 8. Every Monday, ProSieben will show a double episode of the global hit, which has so far only been shown on Sky in Germany.

Silbereisen: There will also be five of the popular "Feste" shows in 2024, commissioned by MDR and broadcast on ARD First. The format with Florian Silbereisen had been in limbo for weeks at the end of 2023, with the exception of the first live show "Schlagerchampions" on January 13.

Two Bachelors: When roses are handed out again on RTL in 2024, it will no longer be just one "Bachelor", but two "Bachelors". The broadcaster wants the dating show to feature more dating, more snogging and more fighting. RTL will air the show in linear format from January 17 (RTL+ will stream from January 10).

Jungle camp: From Friday, January 19, the classic "Ich bin ein Star - Holt mich hier raus!" will be 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 plenty of laughs from Australia's jungle. The final will take place on February 4.

Helene Fischer: Following ZDF's Christmas show, the German TV channel Erste will also be featuring pop queen Helene Fischer in January - as the Saturday evening show "Rausch Live - Die Arena-Tour". "ARD will show the pop icon's concert highlight unabridged and with all the hits, thrilling acrobatics and fire and water elements in a perfectly staged show on January 27, 2024 at 8.15 pm."

Roland Kaiser: ZDF will broadcast an anniversary show recorded in Offenburg (scheduled for February 24) to celebrate the 50th stage anniversary of the pop king Roland Kaiser (71). The gala for Kaiser ("Santa Maria", "Joana", "Dich zu lieben", "Warum hast Du nicht Nein gesagt?") will be presented by Giovanni Zarrella.

"Who's stealing my thunder?": Most recently, Hazel Brugger, Matthias Schweighöfer and Florian David Fitz tried to steal Joko Winterscheidt's hosting duties. Sarah Connor, Lena Meyer-Landrut and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf have been announced for the seventh season in 2024.

"The Voice Kids": Filming for the 12th season starts on January 7 in Berlin. For the coaches (once again Lena, Wincent Weiss, Alvaro Soler as well as Smudo and Michi Beck from the Fantastischen Vier), the blind auditions mean: 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 Frankfurt's "Tatort": After almost ten years and 19 episodes, the current Frankfurt "Tatort" team Janneke and Brix (Margarita Broich and Wolfram Koch) will come to an end in 2024. However, Hessischer Rundfunk wants to continue investigating on the Main in the future. The successor has probably already been decided by HR and will be announced soon.

Farewell Göttingen "Tatort": Maria Furtwängler is returning to Hanover as Charlotte Lindholm after her transfer - and colleague Florence Kasumba is leaving the popular series as Göttingen character Anaïs Schmitz. Lindholm and Schmitz investigate together one last time in the film "Geisterfahrt" (February 11).

Exit from the Franconian "Tatort": The tenth Franconian "Tatort" is the last with Dagmar Manzel. In the eleventh "Tatort" from Nuremberg and the surrounding area, which will be filmed in 2024 for 2025, Felix Voss, played by Fabian Hinrichs, will investigate without Manzel's character Paula Ringelhahn.

Exit from Dortmund's "Tatort": Inspector Jan Pawlak only investigates once more (February 18). After 13 crime thrillers, actor Rick Okon says goodbye. According to WDR, Peter Faber (Jörg Hartmann) and Rosa Herzog (Stefanie Reinsperger) will continue their investigation as a duo.

Return of"Das Supertalent": The show "Das Supertalent" returns to the screens - Victoria Swarovski andJens "Knossi" Knossalla are the presenting duo. Dieter Bohlen and Bruce Darnell are joined on the jury by "Let's Dance" winner Anna Ermakova and professional dancer Ekaterina "Ekat" Leonova, who is well-known from "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 singer Beatrice Egli (DSDS winner in 2013) and 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 Easter. The last days in the life of Jesus Christ will once again be staged on a "spectacular stage" and transported into the present day 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 hosted the quiz "Who wants to be a millionaire?" on RTL. It is unclear how the anniversary will be celebrated or whether Jauch will slowly say goodbye.

Series farewells at 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 is likely to make some changes to its programs in the near future.

Series "Köln 50667 " ends: The soap "Köln 50667" on private broadcaster RTLzwei will end in early summer. The performance of the series, which started in 2013, is no longer consistently satisfactory.

Public science fiction: ARD is set to broadcast a new season of the series "Charité" about the famous Berlin hospital in April. A lot is being ventured, because this time the episodes are set in the future. The authors explore the question: "How will knowledge and medicine, climate and society have developed in 2049?"

Kafka series: This spring, ARD is broadcasting a mini-series about Franz Kafka, who died 100 years ago. Author Daniel Kehlmann wrote the scripts in collaboration with director David Schalko. That should mean high quality and good entertainment.

SchleFaZ: Satirists Oliver Kalkofe and Peter Rütten have found a new home for their project "The worst films of all time" ("#SchleFaZ"). After Tele5 canceled the cult show, it will continue on RTL's special interest channel Nitro and the streaming service RTL+.

Eurovision: Malicious tongues would say that Germany is once again looking for someone to take last place in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2024. But maybe this time it will be raining points. The preliminary decision ("The German Final") is planned for February 16 with Barbara Schöneberger. This time, NDR is relying on Conchita Wurst, among others, for the selection process. The international final in Malmö is then on May 11.