Jan Hofer
After about three years he leaves “RTL Direkt”
After 35 years at the “Tagesschau”, Jan Hofer started again with “RTL Direkt” in August 2021.
© RTL/Joerg Carstensen
News anchor Jan Hofer is leaving “RTL Direkt”. However, it is not a final farewell from television.
Surprise in the TV news scene: Jan Hofer (74) is leaving “RTL Direkt”. The Cologne-based private broadcaster announced this on June 17. A replacement has already been found – but the well-known news anchor will probably not retire completely yet.
According to the press release, Jan Hofer will retire at the end of August after around three years of “RTL Direkt”. The sole main presenter will then be anchorwoman Pinar Atalay (46), who has previously presented the show alternately with Hofer. She will be represented by “RTL Direkt” editor-in-chief Lothar Keller (58). He was previously part of the extended presenter team of the “RTL Nachtjournal”.
More time for his son
Hofer, who hosted the “Tagesschau” on Das Erste from 1985 to 2020 and moved to RTL in 2021, is quoted as saying: “Establishing a completely new news format on such a prominent time slot was a very exciting and challenging task. Now the time has come when I also want to see my son grow up. He is only eight and he would really like to play football with his dad more often.”
Inga Leschek, Chief Content Officer RTL Deutschland, thanked the 74-year-old for his “enormously important contribution to the successful establishment of ‘RTL Direkt'”. She also hinted that viewers probably won’t have to say goodbye to the former “Mr. Tagesschau” for good yet: “Even if Jan Hofer retires from regular news presenting, it will definitely not be a farewell to RTL. We are already in talks about a future project.”
His colleague and successor Pinar Atalay wished him “only the best for the new phase of his life” in her statement. At the same time, she is looking forward to “further developing” “RTL Direkt” as the main presenter from September. The 46-year-old hosted “Tagesthemen” on Das Erste from March 2014 to May 2021 as a substitute and hosted the ARD business magazine “Plusminus” from the beginning of 2014. Like Hofer, she moved to RTL in August 2021.