Overview

• ARD aired the 25th anniversary of the Starnacht am Wörthersee on 16 August, featuring artists from Nino de Angelo to Michael Patrick Kelly, six weeks after its early July ORF recording.
• Social media users criticized the delay for making topical jokes obsolete and eroding the live-show energy.
• Barbara Schöneberger and Hans Sigl’s moderation attracted mixed reactions, with fans praising their chemistry while others found the exchanges forced.
• Technical issues, including on-air sound dropouts and disruptive audience singing, interrupted interviews and performances during the broadcast.
• Industry portals Quotenmeter and DWDL reported that the show still drew solid market shares between 11 and 16 percent despite the backlash.