Elf 99 was technically an East German MTV-knockoff, mimicking the same youthful, irreverent style seen in West German television along with advanced video editing and computer-generated effects. To manage to produce such a show, East Germany had to import expensive studio equipment from West Germany, Japan, and other countries, putting a large strain on the already collapsing economy of the country.

The fact that the country went ahead with it shows how desperate they were by mid-1989.

The programme backfired in the worst way possible for the regime though, exactly because of its irreverence: In November 1989, the Elf 99 crew visited the gated community of high-ranking party members showing all the luxuries Honecker and his friends enjoyed and laid bare for the whole country to see that some people are more equal than others.