heute-journal
Presented byMarietta Slomka
Christian Sievers
Bettina Schausten
Country of originGermany
Original languageGerman
Production
ProducerZDF
Production locationMainz
Running timeWeekdays: 30 minutes
Weekends: 15 minutes
Original release
NetworkZDF
Release2 January 1978 (1978-01-02) 
present
Related
heute

heute-journal (roughly Today's Journal) is a television news magazine broadcast on ZDF, a national German television network.

History

The programme premiered on 2 January 1978 as a late weekday evening 20 minute program.[1] Originally, it was broadcast at 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and at 10 p.m. on Fridays. It has been broadcast at 9:45 p.m. since 1 January 1984.[2] In 1991, the running time of the programme was extended to 30 minutes. 15-minute editions were added on Saturdays (in 1992) and Sundays (in 2000). The running time of the programme is sometimes extended to one hour, to cover special events or particularly important stories. During football matches, a short edition of heute-journal is generally broadcast during the half-time break, eliminating the second news summary, stock market report and the final report (usually related to science or culture).

The programme usually starts at 9:45pm and runs for 27 minutes, followed by a 3-minute weather forecast. On Fridays it starts at 10:00pm, after the Friday crime drama; on Saturdays it is usually broadcast from 10:45pm.

Concept

In contrast to Heute, its early evening counterpart, heute-journal provides in-depth coverage of the news, usually with detailed background information and interviews with politicians, business leaders, experts, and other key people. There is also a daily report from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and a weather forecast. Wolf von Lojewski, a former presenter and managing editor of the programme, once said that while heute will report that a particular politician has resigned, heute-journal will also provide detailed analysis on the reasons for the resignation.

Each edition of heute-journal has two presenters: the main presenter, who introduces most reports and conducts interviews, and the co-presenter, who is part of the editorial team and presents news summaries during the programme. The presenters generally alternate weekly.

The programme is comparable to Tagesthemen broadcast on Das Erste. The programmes' audience is sometimes higher than that of heute.

Opening sequence

Initially, the program programme's opening sequence showed the anchors, with a clock overlay and a ticker with headlines of the day. The ticker sound effect was Morse code for "heute".

The programme moved to a new, virtual studio in 2009, and a new opening sequence was added at the same time. The camera panned towards the anchors while the day's headlines, along with the time, were seen in the background; there was no real title sequence.

As of 19 February 2011, a darker background is used than for other heute news programmes. Instead of a 2D world map in the background, five globes are shown. At the start of the sequence, the clock and headlines appear in the foreground, followed by a title sequence, and finally either a zoom to the presenters or a cut to footage of the main story.

As of 25 June 2007, the program is broadcast in 16:9. It is available as a video or audio podcast.

Presenters

Current presenters

Presenter Start date Role
Marietta Slomka29 January 2001[3]Main presenter
Christian Sievers15 January 2013Main presenter (Relief presenter before 2022)
Bettina Schausten13 July 2020Relief presenter

Former presenters

Presenter Years
Klaus Bresser1978-1983
Dieter Kronzucker1978-1980; 1986-1988
Karlheinz Rudolph1978-1983
Jochen Schweizer1978-1982
Gustav Trampe1978-1979
Ingeborg Wurster1979-1984
Ruprecht Eser1985-1992
Sigmund Gottlieb1988-1991
Alexander Niemetz1991-2000
Wolf von Lojewski1992-2003
Eberhard Piltz1993-1997
Helmut Reitze1997-2002
Klaus-Peter Siegloch2003-2007
Claus Kleber2003-2021
Steffen Seibert2007-2010
Maybrit Illner2010-2012

Co-presenters

Since 30 June 1986, there has been a co-presenter, or an "editor in the studio", who presents a news summary during the programme.

Co-presenter Start date Comments
Gundula Gause8 February 1993usually with Bettina Schausten
Heinz Wolf11 January 1999usually with Marietta Slomka
Hanna Zimmermann10 January 2022usually with Christian Sievers

Former co-presenters

Co-presenter Year started Year left
Nina Ruge19891994
Bernhard Nellessen19921994
Anja Charlet19952001
Alexander Stock19951997
Michaela Kolster20002000
Caroline Hamann20012002
Barbara Hahlweg20032007
Dunja Hayali20072010
Carsten Rüger20152015

References

  1. "Das "heute-journal" wird vierzig". Digitalfernsehen.de. 2017-11-27. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
  2. It is common for German television programs to be scheduled at 15 and 45 minutes after the hour. See the ZDF schedule.
  3. "40 Jahre "heute-journal"". ZDF Presseportal. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
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