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The ratings hit of the year: The final of the women's European Football Championship between England and Germany
Photo: Nick Potts / dpa
In the middle of the discussion about whether two public broadcasters are needed in Germany, ZDF can shine with good news from its own house: In 2022, the second defended its top position among German television broadcasters.
A market share of 14.5 percent in the total audience aged three and over means a minimal decline of 0.2 percent compared to the previous year, but is enough for the eleventh annual win in a row.
ARD's third programs followed in second place, attracting a total of 13.4 percent (-0.2) of viewers.
In the evaluation including December 27th, the ARD main program Das Erste comes to 12.3 percent (+0.2).
RTL attracted 7.5 percent (+0.3) of the total audience as the strongest private broadcaster.
Sat.1 came to 5.1 percent (-0.1).
Vox reached 4.7 percent (+0.2).
ProSieben recorded 3.3 percent (-0.4), Kabel eins 3.0 percent (-0.2), ZDFneo 2.6 percent (-0.2) and RTLzwei also had 2.6 percent (+0, 1).
Ratings hit women's football
In the target group of 14 to 49 year olds, which is important for advertising sales, the picture is somewhat different. RTL remains at the top there with an average of 9.9 percent.
It is followed by ProSieben (8.2 percent), Das Erste (8.1 percent) and ZDF with 7.3 percent.
6.7 percent of the target group watch Vox, 6.6 percent for Sat.1, 5.9 percent for third parties, and 4.3 percent for Kabel Eins.
RTLzwei with 4.1 percent, ZDFinfo with 2.1 percent and ZDFneo with 1.9 percent follow.
The first and the second scored very well with football in the overall audience, with the most popular event being the women's European Football Championship: the England-Germany final on July 31 in the first attracted almost 18 million viewers.
In comparison, around four million fewer people tuned in to the men's World Cup final.
The most important TV event unrelated to sport was the Münster “crime scene”: The episode “The Devil’s Long Breath” on January 16 was watched by 14.6 million on the first.
hpi/dpa
