Observed Signal · Jul 29, 2026 · Audience Ratings Report · Source: DWDL · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
Young Viewers Tune Into ZDF's McDonald's Episode
On 28 July 2026 ZDF’s 45-minute episode besseresser: Die Tricks von McDonalds drew strong interest from younger viewers, reaching 0.39 million 14–49-year-olds (16.4% market share) and 1.66 million viewers overall (9.4%). The follow-up, frontal: Gold. Macht. Gier., benefited from carryover, posting 0.30 million in the 14–49 demo (12.2%) and 1.26 million total (7.2%). MEEDIA’s Video Daily reported ZDF led the 14–49 demo that Tuesday and summarized linear-TV top numbers (e.g., the 20:00 Tagesschau on Das Erste with 3.72 million / 21.5%). MEEDIA also published daily streaming charts (Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+) and German YouTube rankings compiled with agency Active Value. Audience figures are based on AGF Videoforschung (AGF SCOPE 1.15); reports were published 29 July 2026 by MEEDIA and DWDL.de.
The article reports TV audience and demographic figures relevant to broadcasters and advertisers; useful for scheduling and ad planning but not industry-shifting.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- besseresser: Die Tricks von McDonalds — 0.39 million viewers aged 14–49 (16.4%); 1.66 million total (9.4%).
- frontal: Gold. Macht. Gier. — 0.30 million viewers aged 14–49 (12.2%); 1.26 million total (7.2%).
- The 20:00 Tagesschau on Das Erste was the day’s most-watched program with 3.72 million viewers (21.5% market share).
- Audience data source: AGF Videoforschung (AGF SCOPE 1.15); streaming charts come from the services’ own charts.
- Reports published 29 July 2026 by MEEDIA and DWDL.de; MEEDIA’s German YouTube rankings were compiled by Jens Schröder together with agency Active Value.
Connected Companies & Entities
19 Entities mapped“As part of the "Besseresser" series, ZDF on Tuesday addressed McDonalds; ZDF was the most successful broadcaster that Tuesday evening among ...”
“The article states the source for all data as AGF SCOPE 1.15 and displays 'Source of the data for this article: AGF Videoforschung.'...”
“The article is published on DWDL.de and the page footer shows '© DWDL.de GmbH, 2001-2026.'...”
“The article notes that the most-watched program of the day was the 'Tagesschau,' which on Das Erste reached 3.72 million viewers and a 21.5%...”
“Listed among the top five market shares for all viewers: Sat.1 with a 5.1% share (Top 5 market shares: ZDF 13.7%, Das Erste 10.0%, RTL 8.5%,...”
“Listed among the top five market shares for all viewers: VOX with a 4.5% share (Top 5 market shares: ZDF 13.7%, Das Erste 10.0%, RTL 8.5%, S...”
“Listed among the top five market shares for all viewers: RTL with an 8.5% share (Top 5 market shares: ZDF 13.7%, Das Erste 10.0%, RTL 8.5%, ...”
“As part of the "Besseresser" series, ZDF on Tuesday addressed McDonalds; ZDF was the most successful broadcaster that Tuesday evening among ...”
“Listed among the top five market shares for all viewers: RTL with an 8.5% share (Top 5 market shares: ZDF 13.7%, Das Erste 10.0%, RTL 8.5%, ...”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
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Böhmermann Strong with Young Viewers, Behind ZDFneo
A new episode of Jan Böhmermann's 'Lass dich überwachen' on ZDF on 22 July 2026 delivered an 11.3% market share among 14–49-year-olds (9.6% among 14–59), but its linear total reach was weak for ZDF at 1.13 million viewers (6.2% market share), the show's lowest linear audience to date and 300,000 below the previous low. At the same time ZDF ranked behind its sister channel ZDFneo, where a 'Wilsberg' repeat reached 1.22 million viewers. Across all channels, Das Erste led the evening with a 'Helix' repeat drawing 3.88 million viewers (21.1%). Data cited come from AGF SCOPE/AGF Videoforschung.
Old RTL Crime Repeat Nears Two Million Viewers
A repeat of RTL's crime show "Behringer und die Toten" drew 1.90 million viewers on August 4, 2026, giving RTL a 10.9% primetime market share and placing it ahead of ZDF in total reach. The episode performed less strongly in younger demos (7.7% for ages 14–59; 4.9% for 14–49). ZDF's primetime offerings underperformed in total reach ("Besseresser Challenge" ~1.0 million; 5.7% share), but a later ZDF "Frontal" documentary on the Deutsche Bahn lifted younger-audience numbers (1.62 million total, 9.1% overall; 390,000 viewers 14–49, 14.8% in that demo). The evening's highest single reach was ARD's "Die Kanzlei" (2.74 million) while ZDF's "heute journal" reached 2.48 million. Data source: AGF SCOPE / AGF Videoforschung.
ZDF’s ‘Das Deutsche-Bahn-Desaster’ Draws Young Viewers
MEEDIA's Video Daily reports that ZDF's report 'frontal: Das Deutsche-Bahn-Desaster' achieved strong attention among young viewers on Tuesday, while the 20:00 'Tagesschau' (Das Erste/ARD) remained the most-watched program overall. The article provides linear-TV audience figures (total viewers and market shares) for multiple broadcasters, and summarizes daily streaming charts for Netflix, Prime Video (Amazon), and Disney+ as well as the most-viewed German-language YouTube videos. Data sources cited include AGF Videoforschung and MEEDIA's own chart methodology with agency Active Value.
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