Organised for the third time, the themed week is part of RTL Deutschland’s ‘Diversity Connects’ initiative, which raises awareness of diversity topics and advocates for community, acceptance and equality. At the centre of the initiative is the belief that diversity – and visibility for all its manifestations – is fundamental for an open society.

After highlighting the importance of inclusion last year, the 2024 edition of Diversity Week will place the focus on the topic of generations. By including the topic in a variety of programmes across TV, print and digital, the themed week aims to build bridges between different age groups.

Ingrid Heisserer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Human Resources Officer of RTL Deutschland, says: “Every year, the themed week of our ‘Diversity Connects’ initiative demonstrably leads to more social tolerance for topics that are close to our hearts at RTL Deutschland. This year, we want to build bridges between people of all ages by placing the topic of generations at the centre of our cross-media offerings – a topic that personally affects and connects us all.”

Programming highlights during Diversity Week 2024

• As part of Punkt 12, a daily news programme on flagship channel RTL, a series of reports will be broadcast on the topic of money. These will shed light on how different age groups deal with their finances nowadays.
• On Tuesday evening, the TV programme RTL Extra will tackle the topic of driving license tests for elderly people, while RTL Nachtjournal will broadcast a report on work and Gen Z alongside a special featuring generation researcher Rüdiger Maas.
• Popular Vox shows Shopping Queen and Grill den Henssler will return with special episodes, with a mother going shopping with her daughter in the former, and a Mother’s Day special for the latter.
• Cross-generational friendships, multi-generational shared flats, the importance of grandparents in everyday life and generational differences on social media will be some of the topics discussed in various interviews that will air on Toggo Radio.
• In print, Stern will report on an intercultural care home, while Brigitte will focus on the topic of studying above the age of 40. The digital versions of Stern, Geo and Gala will also cover a variety of topics related to generations.

The themed week will be accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign spanning TV, digital, print, radio and social media, starting from 29 April. Besides highlighting how prejudices between generations can be dismantled, the campaign aims to raise awareness of the small things in life that bring people together.

The campaign will revolve around three themes:

• Language with testimonials from RTL Deutschland journalists Pinar Atalay and Julia Weber, who hosts NTV Faktenzeichen (NTV Fact check)
• Friendship with German DJ David Puentez and his grandmother
• Dancing with choreographer and dancer Brigitte “Biggi” Fahnenschreiber and young dancers from the Carnival dance group “Kölsche Stäänefleejer”, showing moments that bring people joy and create community