On a Sunday evening, Peter Kloebel had to face a malfunction at his “RTL aktuell”. The lights went out in the middle of the program, and the presenter continued to present the show with a mobile phone flashlight.
Peter Kloeppel has been running the news on “RTL aktuell” for nearly 30 years. As usual, the announcer received the audience in front of the screens on Sunday evening. His program featured topics such as the high temperatures in Spain or the assassination attempt on Peter R. de Vries.
light with flashlight for mobile phone
However, technical problems surfaced only five minutes after the latest release was launched. Suddenly Kloeppel was sitting in a dark studio. Suddenly the announcer disappeared from view. In front of the camera, the light suddenly went out while the presenter was talking about Richard Branson and his journey into space.
“If you can no longer see me now, but you can hear me, then I can tell you the light is out here in the studio,” says Peter Kloebel. This 62-year-old wasn’t bothered by that. “We will just continue.” His cell phone lit up in his face and he continued cheerfully.
Even minutes later, when moderator Andreas von Thien announced the sports themes, the studio’s lighting problem had not yet been resolved. “Now we have a sport in case of a power outage,” the 54-year-old said. “We haven’t had that with RTL aktuell in several decades either.”
‘We will never forget it’
At the end of the show, the two presenters were still sitting in the dark. But in the meantime, the newscasters had an initial audience update: “As we hear, the lights went out here in our studio due to some massive power outage,” says Peter Kloebel.
“But at least our direction, our cargo handling and everything has an emergency power generator. That’s why you can still see and hear us,” Kloeppel explains.
The supervisor was optimistic: “We will return the light tomorrow.” And Andreas von Thien added: “We will never forget it. A great moment in the dark.”
