Yes it is the Sandmaennchen. He comes on three channels in Germany every night and when my son was younger it was a nightly ritual to watch him before bedtime.  He throws sand and that puts the kids to sleep you know? He also sits on the desk in my office after my son got him in an ?berraschungseier (a chocolate surprise egg that is illegal in the US because the toys are too small and the nanny state says kids will die).Here are a couple of German sites that have info including the homepage which you will have to have Google or someone translate because it is only in German.Unser Sandmaennchen, Google has some of his videos, myvideo.de has a whole bunch as well, He even inspired some East Germans with a way to escape.  He is the only cool commie I can think of, I still watch him every once in awhile when I think of it.