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Moderators Sabine Wieseler and Anna Planken: Cancellation at 2 p.m
Carnival and war: also a balancing act for the media.
The local radio station Radio Köln changed its program on Thursday morning and stopped broadcasting carnival music at 8 a.m.
The public radio station WDR4 also changed its program, playing pop music instead of mood music.
WDR television, on the other hand, continued to focus on carnival - with the (non-disguised) moderators clearly naming the problem.
"Of course we asked ourselves: Can that go together - war and carnival," said moderator Sabine Wieseler on the live show "Weiber Live" on Weiberfastnacht morning.
They came to the conclusion: "Yes, we'll make an offer," says Wieseler.
"We are simply there for you, also for your feelings," added moderator Anna Planken to the viewers.
"It doesn't help if we hide under the covers," says Planken.
It's a bad day, but that's why you want to be there for the viewers - who should report their mixed feelings via email and WhatsApp.
The show, which lasts several hours, will always be about Ukraine.
In fact, statements from the audience were repeatedly faded in over the course of the day, both supportive and critical.
In the studio, Wieseler and Planken questioned Cologne's Mayoress Henriette Reker on the subject of carnival and war.
Reker had expressly announced that he would not attend any carnival events - but this on WDR television was not one.
Demolition at 2 p.m
A WDR spokeswoman had announced that the tonality would be adapted to the current situation: "The character of the program will reflect the ambivalence of the situation and inform about further developments."
But four hours earlier than originally planned, the show ended in the early afternoon.
Shortly before 2 p.m., the moderators Wieseler and Planken surprisingly said goodbye to the viewers.
Wieseler said, "We had a pretty long plan, but we're cutting this show off here because it feels increasingly difficult to celebrate carnival while there's a war in Ukraine."
Ultimately, the WDR ended its special program with the pictures of the day and initially broadcast an episode of the health program »Doc Esser«.
Illner and Lanz with long talk shows
The public broadcaster WDR4 meanwhile changed its music program in the morning, which was announced under the motto "Carnival to the power of 4".
Instead, oldies, among other things, were played.
A moderator justified the change with the attack on Ukraine.
The private broadcaster Radio Köln had already changed its program in the morning.
"We can't report on the war and broadcast carnival music around it," said editor-in-chief Claudia Schall of the German Press Agency.
According to its own statements, Radio Köln had also planned to play carnival music from 6 a.m. to midnight.
The local station in Cologne is part of the Radio NRW network.
Its broadcasters have also changed their news program.
In the morning there should be a single-topic broadcast on the attack on Ukraine, followed by hourly updates, according to a spokeswoman.
The comedy blocks were also initially canceled until 4 p.m.
ZDF had the program »Kölle alaaf.
The girls' session" on the schedule, for which Maybrit Illner's Thursday talk show should have been omitted.
But at midday, the television station changed its plans: after special programs had already been shown throughout the day, a two-hour »ZDF Spezial« is now on the program from 7:40 p.m.
As part of the program, a »What now, Mrs. Baerbock?« will be shown.
ZDF Editor-in-Chief Peter Frey and Deputy ZDF Editor-in-Chief Bettina Schausten question the Federal Foreign Minister about the current situation.
In addition, as part of the special program, talks entitled “Maybrit Illner Spezial” have been announced for around 8:25 p.m. and 9:10 p.m. each for just under 30 minutes.
If you still have questions: The transmission time of Markus Lanz's talk show, from 10:30 p.m., has been extended to 90 minutes.
feb/dpa