Happy Birthday, "Point 12": 30 years, 7527 broadcasts, 213,595 posts

Whoever celebrates their 30th birthday this Wednesday has not passed "point 12" their whole life.

Happy Birthday, "Point 12": 30 years, 7527 broadcasts, 213,595 posts

Whoever celebrates their 30th birthday this Wednesday has not passed "point 12" their whole life. The RTL-Mittagsjournal has been on the air for three decades now, 25 of them with Katja Burkard as the main moderator. We have to celebrate this.

There has recently been a lot of talk about the retro wave on German television, with formats such as "Wetten, dass..?", "7 days, 7 heads" or "The price is hot" being flushed back onto the screens. But there are also programs that don't need to celebrate a comeback - simply because they never went away and are still an integral and indispensable part of the TV landscape even after decades.

What are we talking about? Well, from "point 12" for example. Launched on June 1, 1992, the RTL Mittagsjournal has now been on the air for a whopping 30 years to the day. "Fast, cheeky and informative" was the promise at the start of the magazine. And that has basically not changed to this day.

However, what has changed is the weight given to the show in RTL's weekly program schedule. Initially only half an hour, the transmission time was extended by half an hour in 1999. From 2007 onwards, the format continued for a full two hours from "Point 12". And since 2021, the magazine has been providing its viewers with information for a full three hours.

7527 programs have been created in the past 30 years. The number of posts adds up to a staggering 213,595. The journal is almost indissolubly linked to its moderator Katja Burkard, even if she wasn't actually involved from the very beginning. First used as a substitute in mid-1996, she took over the job of main presenter on April 14, 1997. However, she was able to celebrate her 25th anniversary in this position recently.

"Point 12 is a kind of 'lucky bag' - we have all the topics: politics, celebrities, consumer tips, medicine, curiosities, fates, animals and interesting studio guests," says Burkard, expressing the fascination that emanates from the show the point. Over the years, the editors have developed a keen sense of the rhythm of the show and have never lost their team spirit.

"I actually have a lot of point 12 in me. That also has elements of merging!" Burkard admits that the job never quite lets go of her, even in her private life. Personal experiences also make their way into the show, for example when children and young people from the Ukraine professionally demonstrated their skills on the dance floor at the prom of their 15-year-old daughter's dance school. "I saw the story straight away and a week later I shot a report with them for Punkt 12," recalls Burkard, adding: "I find people and their stories fascinating - that's why I became a journalist and ended up on a show which offers a lot of space for it."

And the moderator reveals another secret about the "Point 12" anniversary: ​​"In terms of celebrity, Udo Lindenberg plays a major role in my career: He was the first celebrity I ever interviewed. At 16 for my local newspaper in the Westerwald !" Years later, the panic rocker approached her at an event. "Hey baby, you're the first thing I see in the morning!" he told her. "'Punkt 12' is breakfast television for late risers," concludes Burkard, who later shot another portrait of the singer. "And by the end of the shoot I was blue from too much eggnog," she reveals.

Who knows? Maybe Katja Burkard has a few more amusing anecdotes in store for the anniversary show. If you want to find out, you should definitely tune in to RTL today. When? At noon at 12 sharp, of course. But even late risers who oversleep even that don't have to worry. "Point 12" is of course also available on RTL at any time.