“As we hear, the traffic light government is history”: With these words from Markus Preiß, the head of the ARD capital studio, it was clear that the television evening on the first, which was actually completely focused on the US election, had received a new spin . Donald Trump? Suddenly it was just old news. SPD, FDP denied – Lindner wants to become finance minister again”>Because Berlin was shaking.
It’s evenings like this that show us what we actually have at ARD. Often criticized as being old-fashioned and old-fashioned, public television suddenly outgrows itself in such moments of crisis and shows why the television fees perhaps have their meaning and purpose after all.
The night of many twists and turns
The ARD “focus on the re-election of Donald Trump was actually supposed to end at 9 p.m., after which an – unusually early – episode of “Maischberger” was planned, in which, among others, CDU man Armin Laschet and former Trump advisor John Bolton spoke about should have talked about the new situation in the USA. But after the last switch to Jörg Schönenborn, presenter Ellen Ehni simply continues talking with a smile – with the vague announcement that “you don’t know what turn the show will take.”
Because events in Berlin are accelerating, ZDF interrupts its crime classic “Aktenzeichen XY … unsolved” and switches to the Berlin political thriller. On ARD, the 45-minute “focal point” grows to a whopping two hours. Scholz’s verbal slap to Christian Lindner and his announcement of new elections in January are recorded live, as are Robert Habeck’s audible bewilderment and disappointment at the sudden break in the coalition, as well as Christian Lindner’s outraged statement in which he accuses the Chancellor of a “calculated break in the coalition”.
Hectic pace at the back, calm competence at the front
One can only imagine the hectic pace of the journalistic brownies behind the “Brennpunkt” scenes in order to organize as many messages as possible in as short a time as possible and to search for facts in the Berlin political fog. In front of the camera, however: nothing but routine composure.
Jörg Schönenborn, the man of numbers and surveys at ARD, tirelessly conjures up new diagrams on the screen. Markus Preiß doesn’t hear some of moderator Ehni’s questions and instead has himself as an echo in his ear – and yet what he has to say about the quick end of the traffic light coalition and Lindner’s new role as Chancellor Scholz’s Watschenbaum doesn’t just sound fluid, but also comprehensible: “If it was all like that, where was Olaf Scholz’s leadership strength?”
The core competencies of the much-maligned analogue television
The Maischberger talk is spontaneously integrated into the “ARD-Brennpunkt”, although neither CDU man Armin Laschet nor SPD politician Gesine Schwan can hardly contribute anything substantial to the Berlin crash from the studio. Laschet claims that the end of the traffic light is “surprising, but not entirely illogical” and takes issue with the fact that the current chancellor does not want to ask the vote of confidence until January. And Schwan states that after the Trump election, Germany can no longer afford anything like the back and forth of the last few weeks.
And yet: The core competencies of the much-maligned analogue television are finally showing themselves again – not only transmitting the events live, but also classifying and commenting on them in a competent and understandable way. On such exceptional evenings you can sit in the front row on ARD and ZDF.
Surf tip: The dismissal of Finance Minister Lindner by Chancellor Scholz sparked heated discussions. Thousands of FOCUS online users express criticism of Scholz and the traffic light coalition. AI specialist Nadine Noppinger analyzed the mood.
