Overview
- The long-running open-air show will have its final live broadcast on Sunday, marking the end of the program's run on Das Erste.
- SWR and ARD announced the cancellation as a cost-saving move and said they will reallocate resources to develop digital offerings for younger audiences, a decision SWR program director Clemens Bratzler called painful.
- Despite the planned end, the show kept strong recent linear ratings, averaging about 1.26 million viewers and roughly a 17 percent market share last year while SWR says overall linear reach has fallen about 30 percent versus ten years ago and viewership among 14–49-year-olds has halved.
- Host Stefan Mross has publicly rejected the finality of the cancellation, saying he has held talks with other broadcasters about continuing the format and has planned a roughly 60-date live tour called “Immer wieder Stefan,” while reserving the usual May–September window for a possible TV return.
- Produced at Europa-Park since 1998 and long seen as a multi-generational summer ritual for Schlager and Volksmusik fans, the program’s end highlights broader pressure on German public broadcasters to cut costs and pursue younger viewers on digital platforms, a change that could shrink seasonal live-TV showcases and shift where popular folk-music acts find exposure.