Tagesschau (German TV Programme)

''Tagesschau'' (German for ''Review of the Day'') is a German national and international television news service produced by the editorial staff of ARD-aktuell on behalf of the German public-service television network ARD.

The main edition of the programme is aired at 20:00 (08:00 pm) on Das Erste. It is also simulcast on several ARD-affiliated networks, including NDR Fernsehen, RBB Fernsehen, SWR Fernsehen, WDR Fernsehen, hr-fernsehen, 3sat, Phoenix, and ARD-alpha. It also broadcasts for most of the day on tagesschau24. In addition, recorded ''Tagesschau'' newscasts can also be seen via YouTube internationally.

History

''Tagesschau'' (literally "Day's Show", or loosely "(Re)view of the Day"; a play on the term ''Wochenschau'', the weekly newsreel formerly shown in cinemas) is both the oldest and the most watched news program on German television. The first edition was transmitted on ''Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk'' (North-Western German Broadcasting) on 26 December 1952. Initially broadcast three times a week, the programme expanded in 1956 to air Monday to Saturday, with Sunday editions beginning in 1961. The nightly 8-pm edition of ''Tagesschau'' is watched by up to 10 million viewers, equivalent to a 33% audience reach. Currently, the bulletin is produced by NDR (Northern German Broadcasting) through ''ARD-aktuell'' (the ARD's news department) from its studios in Hamburg.

The main 15-minute bulletin is broadcast at 20:00 CET or CEST (08:00 pm CET or CEST) each evening with shorter bulletins broadcast throughout the day. The end of the 20:00 bulletin, at 20:15, marks the beginning of prime time on German television, in which both ARD and ZDF end commercial advertising on Monday thru Saturday evenings (the clock with hours, minutes, and seconds is shown in the last ad break, a final in-clock ad is aired before the chime). An attempt by commercial station Sat.1 in the late 1990s to begin their prime time schedule at 20:00 was so unsuccessful that it was discontinued after only a few weeks.

In 1978, the late edition of ''Tagesschau'' was replaced by ''Tagesthemen'' (''Subjects of the Day'' or "Themes of the Day"), a half-hour programme featuring more in-depth reports, analysis, and commentary. The programme continues to air at 22:15 each evening. A late-night, magazine-style programme, ''Nachtmagazin'' (''Night Magazine''), airs at around 00:30. A weekly review programme entitled ''Wochenspiegel'' (''Mirror of the Week'') was produced by the ''Tagesschau'' production team and aired on Sundays around lunch time. The program aired its last episode on 24 August 2014 in a major reshuffle.

The program's trademark continues to be the eight o'clock chime followed by a recorded announcement, spoken by Claudia Urbschat-Mingues, "''Hier ist das Erste Deutsche Fernsehen mit der ''Tagesschau''"'' ("This is First German Television with the ''Tagesschau''"). The ''Tagesschau'' theme music has remained the same since 1956, although the arrangement has been modernized several times, most recently in 2014 by Henning Lohner.

On 25 July 1988 the ''Tagesschau'' was on the brink of being cancelled due to a warning strike organized by the broadcasting union RFFU. This blackout would have been for the first (and only) time in its history, but the ''Rundschau'' from Bavaria, produced by '' Bayerisches Fernsehen'' (Bavarian Television) in Munich, helped out as a substitute program.

''Tagesschau'' aired its 20,000th broadcast on 31 December 2010.

Presenters

Chief anchors

* Karl-Heinz Köpcke (1964–1987; newsreader from 1959)
* Werner Veigel (1987–1995; newsreader from 1966)
* Dagmar Berghoff (1995–1999; newsreader from 1976)
* Jo Brauner (2000–2004; newsreader from 1974)
* Jan Hofer (2004–2020; newsreader from 1985)
* Jens Riewa (2020–present; newsreader from 1994)

Current presenters

* Jens Riewa, since 1994^†
* Susanne Daubner, since 1999^†
* Thorsten Schröder, since 2000^†
* Susanne Holst, since 2001
* Michail Paweletz, since 2004
* Judith Rakers, since 2005^†
* Jan Malte Andresen, since 2014
* Constantin Schreiber, since 2017^†
* Julia-Niharika Sen, since 2018^†

Former presenters

''in alphabetical order''
* Ellen Arnhold, 1987–2015^†
* Marc Bator, 2001–2013^†
* Ina Bergmann, 1997–2001
* Dagmar Berghoff, 1976–1999^†
* Claus-Erich Boetzkes, 1995-2021^†
* Jo Brauner, 1974–2004^†
* Elfi Marten-Brockmann, 1981–1984
* Lothar Dombrowski, 1967–1974^†
* Laura Dünnwald, 2001–2010^†
* Klaus Eckert, 1978–1983^†
* Karl Fleischer, 1960–1994^†
* Caroline Hamann, 2007–2009^†
* Jan Thilo Haux
* Eva Herman, 1989–2007^†
* Jan Hofer, 1985–2020^†
* Georg Hopf, 1975–1985
* Horst Jaedicke
* Silke Jürgensen, 2002–2005
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