Heute show presents the weekly news with funny or sarcastic and cynical comments, especially focusing on issues that are subject of the latest political discussions in Germany.

Welke argues that he might help to make people interested in politics and might help to point out "what goes the wrong way" in parliamentary debates, in ministries, in institutions, and in parties.

In 2014, heute-show correspondent Martin Sonneborn became top candidate of the satirically political party Die PARTEI for the parliament of the European Union.

Bundestag secretary Ernst Hebeker was quoted by Oliver Welke, saying that the show "doesn't do political-parliamentary reporting" as the reason for the decision.

Sometimes the show was not aired due to recent events interfering with it (e.g. on 24 March 2015 when the Germanwings flight 9525 crashed in the Alps or on 13 November 2013 during the 2013 Paris attacks).

This warm-up, including a "best-of" of former shows (in the past also "fail compilations"), is used to put the audience in the studio in a good mood.

27 January 2012 Rainer Brüderle, a German politician and member of the FDP (Free Democratic Party), was a guest in the studio.

Also, Dirk Niebel (FDP) and Jürgen Trittin (Alliance 90/The Greens) were guests in the Wahlkampfbussi (campaigning pecks) of the heute-show.

Comedians and cabaretists are frequent guests on the heute-show, such as Florian Schroeder, Michael Mittermeier, Monika Gruber, Mike Krüger, Bastian Pastewka, Simon Gosejohann, Elton, Timo Wopp, Christoph Sieber, Torsten Sträter, Ingmar Stadelmann, Abdelkarim, Friedemann Weise and Oliver Polak.

Other cameo appearances were Reiner Calmund, Hugo Egon Balder as a "substitute-host", Stefan Raab, and Axel Schulz.

The show of 22 October 2012, did not air like scheduled at 10.30 pm because of a glitch during the dubbing to the ZDF-Sendezentrum (broadcasting control room) due to a technical error.

Since the heute-show had used the word "fap" and other sexual innuendos repeatedly in context with the term "nuclear fetishism", speculations arose on censorship by ZDF.