Victim of austerity: MDR cancels successful Silbereisen programmes

Victims of austerity
MDR eliminates successful Silbereisen programmes

October 5, 2023, 7:20 p.m

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The music of Schlager and Florian Silbereisen – they simply belong together. However, in the future, the presenter will have to abandon some programs in this genre. The reason is the austerity measures taken by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk.

Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) takes the red pencil and doesn’t stop at Florian Silbereisen. The broadcaster plans to stop producing shows with the presenter that are shown exclusively on MDR. This was reported by the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung newspaper, citing internal station documents.

Silbereisen has previously hosted major shows such as “Schlager des Sommers” and “Schlager des Jahrs”. According to the report, stopping production will save about 13 million euros. Programs containing Silbereisen produced by MDR but broadcast on ARD should continue to run. Silbereisen will hold his next big show on October 21 at the Westfalenhalle. “Schlagerboom 2023” will be broadcast on ARD.

The “Ross Antony Show” is also said to be on MDR’s cancellation list, and “Backthen It’s” hosted by Wolfgang Liebert will be cut back, according to the newspaper. News programs on regional radio stations “Jump” and “Sputnik” will be completely canceled and taken over by “MDR aktuell”.

New director Ralph Ludwig announced the station’s austerity measures months ago. “In the future, less will be more,” Ludwig said after his election in March. You want to focus on what is essential. “From 2025 at the latest, the DPRK must set more priorities.”

With MDR the costs are higher than the returns. Revenues in 2021 amounted to about 787 million euros, of which 610 million euros came from broadcast fees. Expenditures amounted to 826 million euros.