Michelle Hunziker Show Ratings Dip – Disappointment

A week after the big farewell to Thomas Gottschalk (75), Günther Jauch (69) and Barbara Schöneberger (51), RTL dared to restart “Because they don’t know what’s happening”. But the first edition on Saturday evening with a fresh cast turned into a ratings debacle: According to AGF video research, only 1.06 million viewers tuned in – and therefore fewer pairs of eyes than ever before in the history of the Saturday evening show.

Things didn’t go any better for advertising-relevant 14 to 49-year-olds either: the market share fell to a meager 8.1 percent. Both mark absolute lows for the format.

Michelle Hunziker and the Zarrellas take over

Michelle Hunziker (48), Giovanni Zarrella (47) and his wife Jana Ina (49) formed the moderation trio for the first edition without Gottschalk. The Ehrlich Brothers were the opponents, supported by Katja Burkard (60). The RTL presenter always had to take action when things became too strenuous for magician Andreas Ehrlich (47). He was wearing a neck brace because of an irritated nerve and therefore had to slow down. The only remnant of the old regular cast: presenter Thorsten Schorn (49), who led the evening as usual.

The show itself offered the usual chaos program: carrying beer barrels with pulse requirements, an egg run with raw eggs around the neck and guessing games with songs sung strangely as well as “hobby horsing” on hobby horses. In between, Mike Krüger (74) even called into the show by phone – he had hosted the Gottschalk farewell show last week. At the end of the evening, the Zarrellas won the duel against the Ehrlich Brothers. 20,000 euros went to those watching on their public page.

What’s next?

The weak numbers can also partly be explained by the strong competition. Kai Pflaume dominated the first with “Small vs. Large”, while ProSieben broadcast the finale of “The Masked Singer”. The music rate show, for example, reached 1.17 million viewers and a market share of 9.9 percent among younger people.

Günther Jauch, Thomas Gottschalk and Barbara Schöneberger had competed in the improvisation game show since “Because they don’t know what’s happening” started in 2018. They were seen for the last time on December 6th; for Gottschalk, who was suffering from cancer, it was also his farewell to the Saturday evening entertainment. The last edition with the trio was seen by an average of 2.43 million viewers. With a daily market share of 11.8 percent among 14 to 49 year olds, RTL was clearly ahead of all other channels.

It is not yet clear how “Because they don’t know what is happening” will continue in the long term. The broadcaster initially only announced the Zarrellas and Michelle Hunziker for one episode.

Leonie Projer (pro), born in 1997, is deputy head of the People department. She gained her first journalistic experiences at Tele M1 and “ArgoviaToday”.