Sad crash at RTL: Stefan Raab's comeback was a mistake

Giga Sad crash at RTL: Stefan Raab's comeback was a mistake Daniel Boldt • 4 hours • 2 minutes reading time Stefan Raab's new shows are running exclusively on RTL+. Stefan Raab is a German TV legend. With rehashed shows, falling ratings and dwindling follower numbers, the entertainer has been ruining his reputation and thus his memory for months. A commentary by Daniel Boldt Rehashed shows and big announcements First of all: I am neither a fan nor a hater of Stefan Raab and his various shows. I only followed major TV events such as Beat the Raab, the Wok World Championship or the diving competition from the sidelines. On the other hand, I always enjoyed watching TV Total. And I also thought it was good that Raab stopped in time at the end of 2015 - without a major scandal and of his own free will. He has thus gone down in German television history as a legendary entertainer and no one can take that away from him. His comeback, however, now threatens to tarnish this otherwise perfect ending. We remember: Raab announced his comeback to the TV show business in autumn 2024, together with private broadcaster RTL and in the course of a large-scale boxing match. Raab made big announcements in the subsequent press conference. In his opinion, an entire generation grew up without good entertainment and it is therefore now his duty to change that (see YouTube). The result is various shows for RTL. Among them are Du gewinnenst hier nicht die Million, Stefan & Bully gegen irgendeinson Schnulli or, in the future, a new version of TV total PokerStars.de Nacht (source: DWDL). However, these are all just warmed-up formats of his old shows on ProSieben. A little adapted here and there, but basically the same old hat. The difference is that a whole decade has passed since his departure and the entertainment industry has fundamentally changed thanks to Netflix, streaming and the internet in general. The numbers speak against a comeback And what worked well back then doesn't necessarily work again. This is particularly evident in the number of views of his shows, which are exclusively on RTL+. With each episode, the interest of viewers decreases and it remains questionable whether the upcoming TV broadcasts will change anything. His star is also rapidly declining on social media platforms such as Instagram. Raab is currently losing around 50,000 followers every month (source: Nindo). The comments under his Instagram posts paint a similarly sad picture. Users label Raab's jokes as boomer humor. There are also many positive comments, but the bare numbers still speak against the entertainer's success. It seems as if Raab has found his match: the current zeitgeist, which he simply no longer hits with his old jokes and worn-out formats.