Bettina Oberli and Carsten Seibt win the German Television Award 2026

The director Bettina Oberli ("naked" / fiction category) and her colleague Carsten Seibt ("New Year's Eve - Schlagerboom 2026 live" / entertainment category) are among the first winners of the German Television Prize 2026. The awards were presented in the evening in Cologne at a "Night of the Creatives". Prizes were awarded in a total of eleven categories in the program areas of fiction, entertainment and information.

The television awards ceremony has once again been divided into two evenings. The “Night of the Creatives” traditionally honors achievements that people have achieved behind the scenes in the TV industry - for example in directing, on camera or in equipment. The setting is festive, but a little more intimate. On the second evening there will be a big TV gala at which, among other things, the best actresses and actors will be announced. Prizes will be awarded in 18 additional categories. This show will also be broadcast on television tomorrow by RTL (8:15 p.m.). Barbara Schöneberger will moderate the event.

Stephan Lamby chairs the jury

The other winners in the information area for best camera were Eike Köhler, Kim Kristin Mauch, and Björn Kurtenbach for “Mine Divers – The Hard Way into the Elite of the Bundeswehr”. For the best book of fiction, Rolf Basedow, Nicole Armbruster and Gabriela Sperl were awarded for “The Policeman's Niece”, while in the entertainment category the award in this category went to Christian Ehring and Dietmar Jacobs for “extra 3” from October 23rd, 2025. The topic was: “Dispute over the cityscape: Merz is rumbling.”

The German Television Prize has been awarded since 1999 and honors outstanding achievements in TV and streaming. The selection of nominees and award winners is in the hands of an independent jury of experts. This year the journalist Stephan Lamby (including “Ernstfall - Governing at the Limit”) took over the chairmanship.

The German Television Prize is supported by ARD, RTL, Sat.1, ZDF and Deutsche Telekom. The streaming providers Disney+, Netflix and Prime Video are partners. The leadership changes year after year. This year she took over RTL.