Johannes B. Kerner

Johannes Baptist Kerner, born on 9 December 1964 in Bonn, is a German television host, journalist, and former sportscaster. He was raised in Hersel, Bornheim, in a Catholic household. He attended boarding school at Aloisiuskolleg in Bonn and later studied business administration in Berlin, though he did not graduate.

Kerner began his television career in 1986 at Sender Freies Berlin, initially working as an intern before becoming a reporter for local sportscasts. From 1990 to 1992, he regularly hosted the national afternoon newscast Punkt 4 Länderreport on ARD. He gained wider recognition as a host and producer for the football program ran – Sat.1 Bundesliga on the private network Sat.1 after the channel secured the broadcast rights to Germany's highest national football league. He presented the show from August 1992 until the end of 1997 alongside other young broadcasters such as Reinhold Beckmann, Oliver Welke, and Monica Lierhaus.

In 1996, Kerner launched his first daily afternoon talk show on Sat.1, titled Kerner. The following year, he joined the public broadcaster ZDF as an independent freelancer. At ZDF, he served as a host for the weekly sports review das aktuelle sportstudio until 2006 and presented broadcasts of football games involving the German national team. Kerner was the main host for all ZDF broadcasts during the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, presenting live in front of a large audience in Berlin. Additionally, he hosted various special programs for ZDF, including annual news review broadcasts around Christmas.

In January 1998, Kerner launched an eponymous late-night talk show on ZDF, broadcasting on Thursday evenings. The show's frequency expanded in January 2002 to four nights a week, running from Tuesday through Friday. Featuring German celebrities, television personalities, and stories from everyday people, the format omitted traditional elements such as opening stand-up monologues or live studio bands, focusing instead on desk conversations with seated guests. In January 2005, the Friday edition was adapted into the cooking show Kochen bei Kerner, which featured guest chefs like Johann Lafer, Alfons Schubeck, Tim Mälzer, Sarah Wiener, Ralf Zacherl, Horst Lichter, and Jamie Oliver preparing meals live.

Kerner returned to Sat.1 in 2009 to host a magazine program titled Kerner. Over the course of his broadcasting career, he received multiple accolades, including prizes in 1996 and 1997 as the most well-liked sportscaster from the magazine Sport Bild, as well as a Deutscher Fernsehpreis for his coverage during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

In April 1996, Kerner married Britta Becker, a former field hockey World Cup and Olympic medalist for Germany. The couple has four children: Emily Blomma, Nik David, Polly Marie, and Jilly Lina. The family resides in Hamburg, where his talk show has been produced.