View source for Heute

{{Lowercase title|italic=yes}}
{{Short description|German TV news program}}
{{For-multi|the Swiss newspaper|Heute (newspaper)|the late-night TV program|heute-show}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox television
| alt_name             = ''heute+'' (late-night; until 2020)<br>''heute in europa'' (Today in Europe, 16:00)<br>''heute in deutschland'' (Today in Germany, 14:00)<br>''heute Xpress'' (short bulletins)
| italic_title         = no
| runtime              = Main bulletin: 20 minutes
| image                = ZDF heute Logo 2021.svg
| presenter            = [[Jana Pareigis]]<br>Mitri Sirin<br>Barbara Hahlweg
| caption              = 
| country              = Germany
| language             = German
| first_aired          = {{start date|1963|4|1|df=y}}
| last_aired           = present
| channel              = [[ZDF]]
| producer             = [[ZDF]]
| location             = [[Mainz]]
| related              = [[Heute Journal|''heute-journal'']] (1978–present)
}}
'''''heute''''' ({{IPA|de|ˈhoʏtə|-|De-heute.ogg}}; German for ''today'') is a television news program on the German channel [[ZDF]]. The main program is broadcast at 19:00, and includes news, with an emphasis on political news from Germany, Europe and the world, plus 'mixed' news from cultural life or entertainment, and the sports news with an extra presenter. The weather forecast comes up at about 19:22 after a break with commercials. For many years, the opening sequence of each broadcast featured an analogue clock, a signature element of the program. On July 19, 2021; the opening sequence switched to a digital clock along with updated graphics and music, along with a new anchor desk and set.

The newscast ''heute'' of ZDF and the 20:00-[[Tagesschau (German TV programme)|''Tagesschau'']] of [[Das Erste]] are the main broadcasts of German public TV starting the evening programme. [[Television advertisement|Advertisements]] can not be shown on [[Public broadcasting|public television]] in Germany after 8:00 pm.

==History==
{{Update|part=section|date=March 2024|reason=Christian Sievers and Petra Gerster are no longer presenters of "heute"}}
The first ''heute'' broadcast took place on 1 April 1963, the day ZDF itself started broadcasting.

''heute'' was originally broadcast from 19:30 to 20:00 CET; on 1 February 1965, the show was split into two parts - ''heute'' (19:30 to 19:45 CET) and ''themen des tages'' (themes/headlines of the day) (19:45 to 20:00 CET). From 1 January 1969 the ''themen des tages'' was dropped so the evening programs could start earlier. In 1971, [[Wibke Bruhns]] was the first female presenter.

In 1973, its airtime was moved to 19:00, where it remains today.
In April 1999 "heute in Europa" (today in Europe) was released and only Europe News a shown.
In the year 2000 a new News Show with the name "heute - in Deutschland" (today - in Germany) came up. It shows news only from Germany. It is always 14:00 on ZDF, after the Mittagsmagzin.
Since 2014, the main presenters of the 7pm broadcast have been [[Petra Gerster]] and [[Christian Sievers]], who alternate weekly; Barbara Hahlweg acts as a stand-in if neither Gerster or Sievers are available.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bz-berlin.de/leute/christian-sievers-plant-wieder-langfristig |title=Christian Sievers plant wieder langfristig |access-date=2 January 2018 |publisher=[[B.Z. (newspaper)|B.Z.]] |date=5 September 2014}}</ref>

==Present-day==
The main program usually has a length of 20 minutes (including a weather forecast). It is also broadcast on [[3sat]]. At around 21:45 CET, a longer, more in-depth show called ''[[Heute Journal|heute-journal]]'' is broadcast, which is similar to ''[[Tagesthemen]]'' airing on [[Das Erste]] alongside the ''[[Tagesschau (Germany)|Tagesschau]]''.

==Identity==
Since 1973, the program's title music was preceded by the letters h-e-u-t-e in [[morse code]] (<code>···· · ··- - ·</code>). A redesign in 1984 resulted in an incorrect spelling being played out instead (h-e-ü-e <code>···· · ··-- ·</code>), which was quickly corrected.<ref name="WASnv-H42yk">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WASnv-H42yk|title=Heute 1984 Morse-Logo|publisher=YouTube}}</ref> In 1998, this was integrated with the title music, and the dots and dashes are no longer distinguishable.

On 17 July 2009, a new [[virtual studio]] debuted, featuring redesigned graphics and the integration of the title sequence to the studio in most editions.<ref name="redesign_spiekermann">{{cite web|url=http://www.edenspiekermann.com/en/work/projects/zdf |title=Redesigning the daily news |access-date=7 March 2010 |publisher=Eden-Spiekermann |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105153702/http://www.edenspiekermann.com/en/work/projects/zdf |archive-date=5 January 2010 }}</ref>

From 19 July 2021, the virtual studio got redesigned and at the start of the 7pm broadcast, it shows Germany, Europe, and the world before announcing the title and its presenters.<ref name="Heute 2021">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVvXzzy-OOg |title=Heute 2021 open 19:00 |access-date=22 July 2021|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}</ref>

==Presenters==
'''7pm edition'''
{|class="wikitable sortable"
! Presenter
! Years
! Role
|-
|[[Petra Gerster]]|| 1998–26 May 2021 || Main presenter
|-
|[[Christian Sievers]]  || 8 September 2014–30 September 2021 || Main presenter
|-
|[[Jana Pareigis]]  || 27 July 2021–present || Main presenter
|-
|[[Mitri Sirin]] || 11 October 2021–present || Main presenter
|-
|[[Barbara Hahlweg]]|| 2007–present || Relief presenter
|}

'''Sports news'''
{|class="wikitable sortable"
! Presenter
! Years
|-
|[[Norbert König]] || 1987–present
|-
|[[Kristin Otto]] || 1995–present 
|-
|[[Rudi Cerne]]|| 1996–present 
|-
|Sven Voss || 2007–present
|-
|Katja Streso || 2010–present
|-
|Alexander Ruda || 2014–present
|-
|Norbert Lehmann || 2018–present
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=tt0246368}}
* {{Official website|https://www.zdfheute.de/video/heute-nachrichten}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:ZDF original programming]]
[[Category:German television news shows]]
[[Category:1963 German television series debuts]]
[[Category:1960s German television series]]
[[Category:1970s German television series]]
[[Category:1980s German television series]]
[[Category:1990s German television series]]
[[Category:2000s German television series]]
[[Category:2010s German television series]]
[[Category:2020s German television series]]
[[Category:German-language television shows]]
[[Category:German news websites]]
[[Category:Flagship evening news shows]]