With viewer hits such as "Der Bergdoktor" or "Die Giovanni Zarrella Show", ZDF regularly gets the best ratings.
These are already being surpassed by the series event “The Swarm”.
Mainz – In the hotly contested duel for ratings, ZDF regularly plays at the top.
Series such as "Der Bergdoktor" or hit shows such as "Die Giovanni Zarrella Show" have always attracted millions of viewers in front of the television screens.
With “Der Schwarm”, the most expensive German TV production of all time (budget of around 40 million euros), the Mainz-based broadcaster seamlessly followed up on these successes after the start of the film adaptation.
"Der Schwarm" gives ZDF dream ratings - better than "Bergdoktor" and "Giovanni Zarrella Show"
It doesn't matter whether it's "Dark", "Babylon Berlin" or "4 Blocks": German series have been experiencing a rapid rise for several years.
ZDF would also like to have a piece of the pie and is launching a multimillion-dollar film adaptation of “Der Schwarm”.
The eight-part environmental thriller series is based on Frank Schätzing's (65) bestseller of the same name and was once about to be filmed in Hollywood - ZDF has now dared to do it.
Family drama, tears and farewells: The 16th "Bergdoktor" season in pictures
Family drama, tears and farewells: The 16th "Bergdoktor" season in pictures
And that's already paying off: on Monday evening (March 6) the station showed the first two episodes of "Der Schwarm" at 8:15 p.m. and thus achieved sensational ratings.
As reported by the industry portal
dwdl.de
, an average of 6.82 million viewers watched the elaborately staged television spectacle - a proud market share of 24.4 percent.
The series even overshadows the record-breaking 6.41 million viewers (market share: 23.0 percent) that “Der Bergdoktor” booked on February 2, 2023. For comparison: The extremely popular "Giovanni Zarrella Show" achieved its good, but significantly lower best value (4.85 million viewers) on November 13, 2021.
"The Swarm" almost ended up in Hollywood
After the phenomenal success of Frank Schätzing's novel, the dream factory was also eager to film “The Swarm”.
There were already talks with Hollywood in 2006, and at that time none other than Ridley Scott (“Alien”, “Blade Runner”, “Gladiator”) was traded as the director.
But this and later projects, such as a film adaptation with acting icon Uma Thurman ("Pulp Fiction", "Kill Bill") failed.
Millions of "Der Schwarm" views also in the ZDF media library - ratings hit can already be called up in advance
The outstanding “Der Schwarm” rate is even more impressive when you consider that the first three episodes have been available in the ZDF media library since February 22nd.
There, too, the number of hits recently surpassed the millions.
In the meantime, episodes four to six are also available as a pre-steam.
The last two episodes will be available from Wednesday (March 8th).
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Week after week, ZDF gets the best ratings thanks to viewer hits such as “Der Bergdoktor” (left) or “Die Giovanni Zarrella Show” (right) – these are now even surpassed by the series event “Der Schwarm” (photomontage )
© Erika Hauri/Staudinger + Franke/ZDF & picture agency Monn/Imago
On ZDF, the week is all about the crowd puller: From Tuesday (March 7) to Thursday (March 9) two episodes will be shown there at prime time.
However, the series is only partially well received by those who have read Frank Schätzing's novel: "Missing the topic, put 6", is the harsh judgment of many "Der Schwarm" viewers.
Sources used:
dwdl.de, zdf.de
List of rubrics: © Erika Hauri/Staudinger + Franke/ZDF & Bildagentur Monn/Imago