OMR Podcast - S02:E08 - Markus Lanz, Moderator

In the late 1990s, Verona Pooth became a German advertising icon with commercials for brands like Iglo, Schwartau, and the directory assistance number 11880. In the OMR Podcast, she shares how the legendary catchphrase "Da werden Sie geholfen" ("There you will be helped") came about, how she achieved a Gold Record despite having no singing talent, and why working as a model at a young age taught her to quickly develop people skills.

Bullied in school, she now has nearly four million Instagram followers and several number-one albums: Katja Krasavice has seen a meteoric rise over the past decade. In the OMR Podcast, she discusses her beginnings as a YouTuber, her conflict with Dieter Bohlen on the jury of "Deutschland sucht den Superstar," and her million-dollar business on OnlyFans.

Steffen Henssler is one of Germany's most famous TV chefs, filling large venues as a live entertainer and successfully selling his own cooking utensils online. In the OMR Podcast, he spoke with Philipp Westermeyer about the role a lottery win played in his life, how he prefers to cook at home, and the current situation with his sushi delivery chain, Go by Steffen Henssler.

ZDF has been the most popular TV channel in Germany for many years, primarily funded by broadcasting fees, amounting to 2.5 billion euros in 2023 alone. Despite this, ZDF still needs to cut costs. In the OMR Podcast, Director-General Norbert Himmler explains how the network plans to balance cost-saving measures with innovation. He also reveals strategies to better engage younger audiences and discusses why satire shows like Jan Böhmermann's cause him a lot of trouble, yet are ultimately worth it.

Stephan Schäfer rose from journalist to co-CEO of RTL Germany. But then, surprisingly, his departure followed. He made a fresh start, wrote a novel—and immediately scored a bestseller. In the OMR podcast, Stephan Schäfer discusses why, after a successful media career, he decided to take an entirely new path at nearly 50 years old.

Tim Raue is not only one of Germany’s best chefs; he’s also part of the international top tier. At just 23, he became head chef before starting his own business with his then-wife. They opened Restaurant Tim Raue, which has held two Michelin stars since 2012. Today, he runs seven additional restaurants and is planning a new one in the Berlin TV Tower. Raue has also built an extensive business portfolio outside the kitchen. In the OMR Podcast, he spoke with Philipp Westermeyer about his challenging childhood and youth, his latest projects, and the current challenges in the restaurant industry.

The plan seemed clear: After studying chemistry, Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim was convinced her career path would lead to BASF, where her father also worked. But then everything turned out differently. In the OMR Podcast, she shares how a series of fortunate coincidences made her Germany's most famous science journalist, her thoughts on Elon Musk, the role money plays in her life, and why we should all be in love with the periodic table.

Advertising revenues are collapsing in linear TV, while the streaming service RTL+ still has to grow: The job of RTL CEO Stephan Schmitter is probably one of the most challenging transformation tasks in the German economy. In the OMR podcast, Schmitter reveals how Stefan Raab contacted him during a family vacation to talk about the comeback and why Dieter Bohlen still plays an important role for RTL despite fierce criticism of his sayings.

Palina Rojinski has become an integral part of the German television landscape. She made it big as a sidekick for Joko and Klaas, but has long been successful on her own, currently as part of the jury for “The Masked Singer”: As an entrepreneur, she is in the astro business, she has just filmed for the Apple TV series “Where's Wanda?” and works as an advertising face with various brands. In the OMR podcast, she revealed how she manages to juggle everything.

For around two decades, Andreas Wiele was one of the most important managers at Axel Springer. But when private equity investor KKR joined the company in 2019, he left. In the OMR podcast, Andreas Wiele explains why he decided to start his career all over again at the age of 57. Today, he is an investor, has founded an energy start-up and, as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, has to make the reeling TV group ProsiebenSat.1 fit for the streaming age. He sees one thing completely differently to competitor RTL.

For nearly 25 years, Mathias Döpfner has led the Berlin-based Springer Group, transforming the traditional publishing house several times during this period. He now aims to take the next step, transforming Axel Springer into the largest digital publisher in the democratic world. In the OMR podcast, Döpfner discusses his strategy, the controversial guest contribution by Elon Musk in the Springer newspaper 'Welt am Sonntag,' and his doubts about whether the occasionally genius Tesla CEO might long-term become a figure threatening democracy.