Günther Jauch is probably one of the most famous faces on German television. For years he thrilled the audience at stern TV and is still the figurehead of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? But in addition to his well-known TV career, there was Jauch also worked in another area of television.
Günther Jauch’s beginnings on TV: This is how he got on TV
Günther Jauch studied law before his television career. During his studies, he applied to the German Journalism School in Munich. When he was accepted there, he immediately dropped out of law school and trained as a journalist.
He then started at Bayerischer Rundfunk. Alongside But he still wanted to study politics and modern historywhich he had to give up when he switched to the BR radio and hardly had any time left for his studies. In 1985 he met Thomas Gottschalk, with whom he hosted the B3 radio show for four years.
Günther Jauch worked as a presenter and commentator in sports
After Jauch had already worked as a sports presenter for Bayerischer Rundfunk, he continued his career in this direction. Because Günther Jauch was a sports commentator for years – also later on RTL. From 1988 he moderated the current sportstudio on ZDF for nine years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPSPXoEJVII
After signing a contract with RTL, he not only presented stern TV there, but also continued his work as a sports presenter. He moderated the RTL Champions League games for years and in the 2000s he hosted ski jumping together with Dieter Thoma.
“The first goal has already been scored”: Jauch and the Madrid goal
One of the most famous moments in Günther Jauch’s sports commentator career was the infamous goal drop in Madrid in 1998: The start of the Champions League semi-final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund had to be postponed – the reason: One gate was overturnedafter Spanish fans tore down the surrounding fence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GItIjaOZ4UE
Since RTL didn’t know whether the game would be canceled or just postponed, no advertising could be shown. That’s how they were Günther Jauch and his colleague at the time Marcel Reif were left to their own devices and had to comment on what was happening without anything really exciting happening. But then the two really got going. This is how Günther Jauch came up with his famous quote:
For all those who didn’t tune in in time, […] the first goal has already been scored
Reif also had funny comments: “A goal has never done so much good for a game.“In fact, this break had hindsight a higher audience rating than the actual football game. Jauch was later awarded the Bavarian Television Prize for this moderation.
Where Günther Jauch can still be seen on TV these days
Günther Jauch is no longer seen often on German television. He has been presenting for 25 years every Monday at 8:15 p.m. Who wants to be a millionaire? on RTL. Otherwise he is part of Because they don’t know what’s happeningalbeit only sporadically. The show airs several times a year, the last time being on December 14, 2024.