“Hard but fair” put to the test with Klamroth on ARD: is there a risk in the end?

What’s next? Political speech ARD ‘Hard but fair’? Louis Klamroth only took over the show from predecessor Frank Plasberg at the beginning of 2023 Renovated again at the beginning of this year – but now the conversation is being put to the test. The broadcaster wants to decide this month what it will do next “Hard but fair” – currently during the summer holidays – happened. “The decision on the future of ‘Hard but Fair’ will be discussed at the next ARD video program conference in mid-July,” Tabea Werner, spokeswoman for the ARD program directorate, told the Editorial Network Germany (RND) on Monday.

“The ratings and viewer ratings for ‘Hard but Fair’ will serve as a basis for discussions about the future of the show,” Werner continued. “But not only journalistic criteria such as program strategy considerations play a role in the assessment.” She confirmed that it has been agreed “that the average TV market share of the format in the first six months of this year may not be lower than that in the same period last year. In addition, the program must achieve an average of 250,000 views per issue in the ARD media library in the first half of 2024.” In addition to the views for the program, those for the ‘To go’ edition, which Klamroth makes weekly especially for the program, here the media library would also be included.

‘Hard but fair’ moderator Louis Klamroth: ‘I get a lot of hate’

His predecessor Frank Plasberg is disappointed, Louis Klamroth himself sees ‘Hard but Fair’ on the right track after the new concept. In the RND interview he talks about the complicated dealings with AfD politicians on talk shows, the possibilities and limits of political talk and the hatred he has received since he took over the show.

According to reports from “Media insider” And “People make media” The contract runs between WDR, which is responsible for the show, and the production company Florida Factual, in which Klamroth is a co-partner At the beginning of 2024, the Plasberg production company took over the production of “Hart aber fair”.until the end of 2025. But WDR has the option to end the collaboration early at the end of 2024 if these objectives are not achieved.

The first six months of 2024 are now over, and at least for part one of the target requirements – the viewing figures, which are announced after each broadcast – it can be said: Klamroth has met them. The 14 editions broadcast on linear television on Monday evenings in the first half of 2024 have arrived According to the ARD program management, it has an average market share of 9 percent. An average of 2.18 million viewers watched each program. For comparison: in the same period last year, the show had an average market share of 8.5 percent and an average of 2.21 million viewers.

The viewing figures for the media library programs are less transparent. The ARD does not yet want to say whether these have been realized. “We cannot currently provide figures on the viewing figures for the digital broadcast in the ARD media library, because these figures are still evolving,” says spokeswoman Werner. In the period January to March, the lecture was viewed an average of 205,000 times dwdl.de reported. If this does not improve significantly over the next three months, ‘Hart aber fair’ will not achieve its target of an average of 250,000.

If “Hard maar Eerlijk” does not go ahead, will “Maischberger” be extended until Monday? It would be conceivable. In that case, the ARD political lecture would take place three times a week, just like its ZDF counterpart “Markus Lanz”, which currently airs on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. What could the whole thing look like? Already visible in the spring. “Hart aber fair” was interrupted and instead “Maischberger” was shown on Monday evenings for three weeks.

ARD had already announced in the summer of 2023 that they wanted to show “Maischberger” more often. “Sandra Maischberger has been on the air since 2021 with a completely new format on the German talk market: the focus is no longer on one topic, but the presenter introduces the relevant topics of the week. It combines classification by commentators with long, focused and in-depth individual or duplicate interviews. With this format, Sandra Maischberger has been in double programming on Tuesdays and Wednesdays since 2022. We are pleased with the increased audience interest that the show has registered since then,” Lars Jacob, spokesperson for the ARD program management, told RND in March.

And Sandra Maischberger doesn’t seem to mind a possible expansion: “Two shows are very good. If ARD decides at some point that there should be three, (…) I can certainly imagine that,” she said in a podcast interview with “Bild” journalist Paul Ronzheimer in May.