When it comes to television ratings of the year, the national soccer team is once again not number one. And there are other interesting numbers in the odds ranking.
Failed in the preliminary round of the World Cup, but was particularly popular with fans: for the second time in a row, the German footballers are the TV queens. 10.374 million people watched the DFB women’s game against Colombia on ARD during the World Cup on July 30th, putting it in number one place in the 2023 ratings.
The coordination with the remote control was close. The men’s international soccer match between Germany and France had the second most TV viewers. During Rudi Völler’s one-off coaching assignment, 10.369 million tuned in on September 12th.
The German women were already number one in the ratings ranking last year – back then with significantly more viewers. 17.952 million people watched the European Championship final on Erste on July 31, 2022. The difference: The World Cup game this summer in Sydney kicked off at midday in Germany and, in contrast to the European Championship final, was only a preliminary round game.
No prime time games
“They weren’t prime-time games, but lunchtime games, which makes them even more valuable,” said ARD sports coordinator Axel Balkausky, commenting on the female footballers’ quotas. “Women’s football, at least with the national team, has now become completely established.” The numbers “prove that female soccer players attract a large audience,” said ZDF sports director Yorck Polus.
At least five of the German men’s games were in the top 10 in this year’s TV sports ratings. Two handball games are also among the ten most successful sports broadcasts of the year, including the World Cup game between Germany and France with 7.497 million in fifth place on ZDF.
Handball in second place
“Handball is currently the number two team sport behind football, which plays a major role, especially in tournaments,” said Balkausky. “That’s why I also believe that there will be another significant push at the beginning of next year with the European Championships here in our own country.” The ZDF sports director also expects higher ratings for men’s football: “Even in the sporting crisis, it shows what potential there is in the upcoming home European Championship if the German team finds its way back to success.”
The basketball players were also able to achieve an unexpected ratings success. A total of 6.259 million people saw the German national team’s victory in the World Cup final against Serbia on ZDF or in the activated Internet stream on Telekom’s MagentaTV offer. All in all, this resulted in 15th place in the ratings ranking.
Biathlon is undoubtedly one of the TV favorites of German sports fans. Cross-country skiing with shooting events guaranteed the first and second place consistently good numbers on the winter weekends, and the market shares are particularly high in the races in the afternoon. The top value this year was 5.147 million in a men’s relay on January 22nd – that resulted in 29th place.
However, other numbers are more remarkable: The importance is particularly clear from the fact that 21 races are within the top 100. “Biathlon has not always been blessed with German successes, but this sport is incredibly stable,” commented ARD sports coordinator Balkausky.
Source: Stern
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