“Tatort” summer break has record length in 2024

Summer break: No new “Tatort” for almost four months, that is, a third of the year. Fans of the most popular crime series are noticeably undersupplied with new material this time.

It’s been a long time since he’d been away: “Tatort” is taking its longest summer break ever this year. According to current planning from the ARD program directorate in Munich, the break in 2024 will last a full 17 weeks – a record. Until now, the years 2020 and 2012, with their 13-week summer breaks, were considered record years for the popular ARD Sunday crime series “Tatort”. Last year, the summer break lasted eleven weeks, two years ago it lasted ten weeks.

According to current information, there will only have been 32 new “Tatort” crime thrillers at the end of the year – fewer than in a long time. Last year there were 35, before that 36. In 2021 there were 33, before that always around 36 to 37, in 2015 even 40.

Since Whit Monday (20 May) there has been no more “Tatort” premiere. The first fresh “Tatort” crime thriller is currently scheduled for 15 September. Until then, repeats will continue to be broadcast on Sundays during prime time in the program or a sports broadcast such as on August 4th, when athletics from the Summer Olympics in Paris will be shown live on Das Erste.

Repeats on Sundays in the coming weeks include the NDR “Tatort: ​​Borowski and the sky over Kiel” from 2014 (July 28), the MDR “Tatort: ​​Level X” from Dresden from 2017 (August 11), the WDR “Tatort: ​​A friend, a good friend” from Münster from 2022 (August 18) and the Stuttgart SWR “Tatort: ​​Videobeweis” from 2022 (August 25).

Weeks of “Tatort” repeats on Sunday evenings – or the Olympics

The “Tatort” summer break, during which “Tatort” repeats are shown on Sundays at 8:15 p.m. on Das Erste instead of new crime dramas, has only gradually become established. Repeats in the summer have been a regular occurrence since 1996. Since 2003, the number of repeats in the summer has increased, but has often been interrupted by first broadcasts (including “Polizeiruf 110”). The first continuous “Tatort” summer break on Das Erste was in 2007 and then again from 2010 onwards.

The ARD cites the two major sporting events in 2024 as the reason for the long summer break this year. The European Football Championship in Germany ran from June 14 to July 14, the Olympic Games in Paris are from July 26 to August 11. After that there are the Paralympics (August 28 to September 8).

After the last “Tatort” before the summer break (May 20), there was a new Munich “Polizeiruf 110” on May 26. Since then, however, no new Sunday crime drama has been shown on ARD television.

dpa/GD