Observed Signal · Aug 6, 2026 · Programming Change · Source: DWDL · Impact: 1/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
The Masked Singer moves to weekday, starts September 16
ProSieben announced that the 13th season of The Masked Singer will begin on 16 September 2026 and will move from its recent Saturday-evening slot to a Wednesday. The series will no longer be broadcast live; production will be filmed en bloc between 25 August and 11 September. The season increases the number of masked celebrities to 16 and retains Matthias Opdenhövel as host. Endemol Shine Germany remains the producer. ProSieben and Joyn confirmed the schedule details after a Quotenmeter report.
Routine scheduling and production changes for a single linear-TV entertainment show; limited impact on the broader AdTech/MarTech ecosystem beyond linear TV scheduling and associated ad inventory.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- ProSieben set the start date for season 13 of The Masked Singer to 2026-09-16.
- The show is moving from Saturday evenings to a weekday (Wednesday) time slot.
- Production will be pre-recorded (not live) and filmed en bloc between 2026-08-25 and 2026-09-11.
- The new season will feature 16 celebrity contestants and will consist of six broadcast episodes in total.
- Endemol Shine Germany continues to produce the show; Matthias Opdenhövel remains the host.
Connected Companies & Entities
4 Entities mapped“ProSieben published the start date for the 13th season and is moving the show off Saturday to a Wednesday (start 16 September)....”
“Joyn confirmed the start date on its own website, cited after a Quotenmeter report....”
“The story was published on DWDL.de (article by Uwe Mantel) with a copyright notice for DWDL.de GmbH....”
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The Masked Singer changes format — no longer live
ProSieben will record the 13th season of The Masked Singer instead of broadcasting it live. The broadcaster will tape the season in block between August 25 and September 11, 2026, over roughly two-and-a-half weeks. The new format accelerates the pace: the first four episodes act as preliminary rounds with four masks each (16 celebrities total), two advancing from each round, leading into a semifinal and final — six episodes in total. ProSieben says prerecording lowers production costs and makes it easier to book high-profile contestants. Matthias Opdenhövel remains the host and the show continues to be produced by Endemol Shine Germany. Hannes Hiller (EVP Show, Own IP & ProSieben) framed the change as aligning Germany’s edition with international standards.
The Voice moves to Saturday on ProSieben
ProSieben and Sat.1 have reshuffled their entertainment lineups: The Voice of Germany will premiere its new season on Sat.1 on 11 September 2026, airing Fridays in prime time (20:15), and will also broadcast on ProSieben from 12 September 2026, where it moves from its previous Thursday 20:15 slot to Saturdays. Produced by ITV Studios Germany, the music casting show will be presented by Melissa Khalaj alongside new co-host Matthias Killing, who replaces long-time host Thore Schölermann after 14 years (Schölermann has stepped back to focus on operating McDonald’s restaurants). The coach panel remains unchanged — Shirin David; Michi Beck & Smudo; Rea Garvey; and Nico Santos. The schedule change also moves The Masked Singer from weekends to Wednesdays.
Masked Singer Struggles at Season Start with Low Ratings
ProSieben's 'The Masked Singer' season premiere underperformed, drawing only 1.07 million viewers, including 230,000 in the 14-49 demographic. The market share fell to 7.5%, near an all-time low. The show moved from Saturday to Wednesday, shifted from live to recorded, and now features two unmaskings per episode, but these changes failed to reverse declining ratings. Despite this, the show remained above the channel's average, which is about 5%. In comparison, Sat.1's 'Das große Backen' attracted 1.15 million viewers and achieved 8.4% market share in the target demographic.
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