Observed Signal · May 1, 2026 · Ratings Report · Source: DWDL · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
Europa League Outperforms GNTM in TV Ratings
RTL’s live broadcast of SC Freiburg’s Europa League semi-final at SC Braga delivered season-best ratings for the competition on Thursday night. The match drew 2.72 million viewers in the first half and averaged 3.24 million in the second half, achieving an 18.9% overall market share. In the 14–49 demographic after 22:00 the game averaged 780,000 viewers (23.4% market share). ProSieben’s Germany’s Next Topmodel (GNTM) followed as the biggest competitor in the young demo with a 13.5% market share and 1.07 million viewers. At 20:15 the new “Saarland-Krimi” on Das Erste led the overall audience with 3.79 million viewers (19.0% market share); ZDF’s “Lena Lorenz” reached 2.97 million (14.9%). Data source: AGF Videoforschung (AGF SCOPE).
Daily TV audience and demographic ratings highlight live sports' ability to drive linear TV reach—which matters to advertisers and broadcasters—but the update is routine, not industry-shifting.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- RTL’s broadcast of SC Freiburg vs. SC Braga averaged 3.24 million viewers in the second half and 2.72 million in the first half.
- The Europa League match achieved an 18.9% market share among all viewers.
- In the 14–49 demographic after 22:00 the match averaged 780,000 viewers and a 23.4% market share.
- ProSieben’s Germany’s Next Topmodel (GNTM) had a 13.5% market share in the 14–49 demo with 1.07 million viewers.
- Das Erste’s new 'Saarland-Krimi' premiere reached 3.79 million viewers and a 19.0% market share; ZDF’s 'Lena Lorenz' had 2.97 million (14.9%).
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Europa League Final Delivers Strong RTL Ratings
RTL’s broadcast of the Europa League final (Aston Villa vs. SC Freiburg) on 2026-05-21 delivered strong linear-TV audiences, peaking at 5.67 million viewers at kickoff and a 25.5% overall market share, according to AGF SCOPE / AGF Videoforschung. Pre-match coverage started at 1.90 million viewers and rose to 3.29 million ten minutes before kickoff. In the first half RTL reached a 41.1% share among 14–49-year-olds (1.80 million); after Freiburg fell 0:2 at halftime reach dropped to 4.23 million in the second half. Post-match highlights retained about 1.06 million viewers. Competing coverage of the Ice Hockey World Championship on ProSieben (Germany vs. USA) attracted substantially smaller audiences (initially ~880,000, falling to ~610,000) with a late uplift to ~1.06 million after 22:00. Data are preliminary, weighted AGF TV measurements.
SC Freiburg Boosts RTL Ratings; Raab Lowers Postgame Reach
SC Freiburg's victory over Braga and progression to the Europa League final delivered season-best linear-TV audience figures for RTL: an average of 3.31 million viewers in the first half and 4.15 million in the second, with strong market shares across key age groups. Post-match minutes produced even higher youth shares, but RTL's highlights programming was disrupted when Stefan Raab took over the slot, triggering a sharp drop in reach. The highlights' first five minutes attracted 2.05 million viewers before most of the remainder of the program aired on Nitro. Stefan Raab's show on RTL averaged 0.58 million viewers with single-digit market shares, matching the audience that Nitro later recorded for the relocated highlights. Audience data source: AGF SCOPE / AGF Videoforschung.
GNTM Finale Hits Season-High Demo Despite Winner Leak
The Germany's Next Topmodel (GNTM) finale, recorded in Los Angeles and leaked earlier by Harper's Bazaar, still attracted strong TV audience shares for ProSieben on 28 May 2026. The show reached 1.33 million viewers overall (the lowest final reach in the show's history) but delivered a season-best performance in the key 14–49 demo with 630,000 viewers and a 20.6% market share — a record high for the year. Winners Aurélie and Ibo were confirmed as the leaked champions. Follow-up programming underperformed (Realityshow-Academy: 280,000 and 110,000 viewers; demo shares 5.1% and 3.3%). Other Thursday highlights: Galileo underperformed (5.8% share), a late-stage Canada–USA ice hockey game peaked at 8.0%, and ProSieben Maxx’s Switzerland–Sweden match reached up to 240,000 viewers (2.7% in the demo at close). Data source: AGF (AGF SCOPE/AGF Videoforschung).
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