Overview
- Stephan Schmitter publicly acknowledged in an interview at the Austrian Media Days on Monday that RTL made conceptual errors in handling Stefan Raab’s return and that the broadcaster “tried to force” formats that did not fit him.
- Raab’s 2024 comeback began with a huge success when his boxing event against Regina Halmich drew more than eight million viewers and set high expectations for follow-up programming.
- RTL rapidly launched several new Raab shows after the deal, including the hybrid quiz/late-night format 'Du gewinnst hier nicht die Million', which was cancelled after roughly 30 episodes because it failed to attract a stable audience.
- Schmitter cited recent wins as models for the future, naming stunt and event shows such as the Jetski-WM and the Barbara Schöneberger co‑hosted quiz 'Wer weiß wie wann was war?', which won the Deutscher Fernsehpreis.
- RTL says it will pivot away from weekly hybrid experiments toward event-driven stunts and established quiz formats, a change that reflects audience expectations, reduces near-term programming risk and will shape how Raab is used on the channel under his multi‑year deal.