RTL Group | Cologne, 05/23/2018

Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland Wins Three 2018 Bavarian Television Awards

The Bavarian Television Awards, presented since 1989, are among the most renowned and coveted honors in German television. This year, three “Blue Panthers” went to Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland. There were two prizes for RTL, and one for Vox.

Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland came away from the Bavarian Television Awards ceremony with a total of three prizes. RTL won two awards, while Vox took home one. Entertainer Hape Kerkeling received the Honorary Award. The Bavarian Television Awards “Blue Panther” porcelain trophies were presented at the Prinzregententheater in Munich last Friday. Barbara Schöneberger hosted the 30th awards ceremony, and RTL broadcast a recording of the award ceremony last Saturday.

In the Entertainment category, Mark Land, the editor responsible for “Ninja Warrior Germany” from the Comedy & Real Life department at RTL, was delighted to accept a Blue Panther. “Ninja Warrior Germany” is a production by Norddeich TV, a Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland subsidiary. In 2016 and 2017, RTL broadcast two successful seasons and a celebrity special of the show with presenters Frank Buschmann, Jan Köppen and Laura Wontorra. A third season with two new specials is currently being recorded in Karlsruhe, and is scheduled to air in 2018.

In addition, the Infonetwork reportage “Faktenverdreher und Fakenews: Wie wir im Netz manipuliert werden,” (Fact Twisters and Fake News: How we are manipulated on the net) broadcast on RTL in August 2017, won an award in the Information category. Journalist Stefanie Albrecht spent almost a year in the right filter bubble on the internet, looking behind the scenes of the “alternative media” and talking to people who trust what they read online more than the traditional media.

Vox, too, was delighted to win a Blue Panther. The three writers Amai Haukamp, Anne Morgan and Daniel Hartung were awarded the coveted prize in the Culture and Education category for the four-hour documentary “Mann oder Frau? – Leben im falschen Körper” (Man or Woman? - Living in the Wrong Body) produced by Spiegel TV. In the documentary, ten transsexuals told of their often long path of suffering towards getting the right body. In its big Saturday documentaries, the channel Vox regularly airs a four-hour special dealing with a socially relevant topic.

The Bavarian Television Awards, which  have been presented since 1989, are one of the most renowned and coveted awards in German television. They are awarded in five categories: Information, TV Movies, Series, Entertainment and Culture and Education. An independent panel of expert judges selects the winners. In 2018 it was comprised of Prof. Dr. Klaus Schaefer (Chairman), Andreas Bartl, Dr. Ulrich Berls, Daniel Curio, Matthias Fack, Prof. Dr. Georg Feil, Jan Rasmus, Prof. Bettina Reitz, Yvonne Weber and Elke Walthelm.