German Television Station Gives National Election Results Two Days Before the Election
22:44 GMT 24.09.2021 (Updated: 10:57 GMT 11.03.2024)
© REUTERS / MICHELE TANTUSSI
Subscribe
ARD, a German public television station, erroneously aired the results of the national election two days early.
The debacle occurred during the airing of the quiz show “Gefragt, gejagt”, which translates to “Asked, hunted,” when a banner popped up on the bottom of the screen.
According to the banner, the Union parties would get 22.1%, the Social Democratic Party 22.7%, the Alternative for Germany 10.5%, and the Free Democratic Party 13.2% of the vote in Germany’s national election.
Heute ist Freitag, der 24.09.2021. Müssen wir beunruhigt sein, wenn bei #gefragtgejagt in der #ARD bereits Hochrechnungen zur Bundestagswahl durchs Bild laufen? 🤔
— Der Online-Wunschbrunnen (@_wunschbrunnen) September 24, 2021
Wissen die schon wieder mehr als wir? 🤫 pic.twitter.com/4YkYg5hTah
ARD took down the banner before the results for the Left and the Greens were displayed. The incident occurred on Friday, with the election set for Sunday. ARD wasted little time soothing concerns of a predetermined election.
Holger Lichtenthäler, head of the ARD broadcasting, explained the prescient banner. “It was a technical test of the election crawl that was supposed to be done in the inactive broadcasting area in preparation for election Sunday, but went on air due to a switching error. It was an accident for which we apologize."
ARD has to hope that the election results don’t align too closely to their ‘early results’, or else questions will start to be asked. As the blooper was occurring, the contestants on the quiz show were asked, "Which goblin with red hair did Hans Clarin voice for decades?" The answer, of course, is Pumuckl, the mischievous kobold.
