In the second half of the year, ZDF will present its people magazine “Leute heute” – but wants to accommodate the topics in other formats in the future. From autumn 2023, the topics of “People Today” will be taken up in the then extended news and tabloid magazine “Hallo Deutschland”, said a spokesman for the transmitter of the German Press Agency on Sunday. In addition, the topics would be presented in new online formats in the media library. The “Bild am Sonntag” reported about it first.
ZDF wants to appeal to younger target groups
“This step is part of the strategy process ‘One ZDF for everyone’, whereby the broadcaster wants to reach more younger target groups and people who have hardly seen any ZDF content up to now,” said ZDF in response to the dpa request.
“People Today” is mainly about celebrity topics, entertainment, society, fashion and royals, as the ZDF website says. The show, which has been around for almost exactly 26 years, is presented by presenter Karen Webb. In the early years until 2007, Nina Ruge was the face of the show.
Only on Friday (January 27th) did it become known that two popular series would end. 2023 will be the last season of “SOKO Hamburg” and “Last Track Berlin”. The episodes will then be broadcast in 2024 in the original slots (“SOKO Hamburg” on Friday evening and “Letzte Spur Berlin” on Friday evening). This step was also justified with the orientation towards a young audience. “Unfortunately, this strategic shift also means that we have to part with successful and beloved programs. We have therefore decided to end the crime series ‘SOKO Hamburg’ and ‘Letzte Spur Berlin’ in favor of developing new formats Farewell to two such successful formats is not easy for us,” says ZDF program director Nadine Bilke.
