Observed Signal · Aug 23, 2026 · Ratings Report · Source: DWDL · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
ZDF Wins Primetime with Alexander Held Episode
A new episode of the ZDF crime series "München Mord" featuring the late Alexander Held drew 4.03 million viewers on Saturday (23 Aug 2026), securing a 20.1% market share and the primetime win ahead of Sat.1’s Supercup. Only ARD's Tagesschau at 20:00 attracted a larger audience. ZDF noted the episode was Held's penultimate performance; one final new episode with him will still be broadcast at a later date and the broadcaster has said the series will continue. Audience and market-share figures are sourced from AGF Videoforschung (AGF SCOPE 1.15).
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- 4.03 million viewers watched the new ZDF episode of "München Mord" on Saturday evening.
- The episode achieved a 20.1% market share and won primetime ahead of Sat.1's Supercup.
- ARD's Tagesschau at 20:00 had 4.50 million viewers and a 26.2% market share (the only bigger audience that evening).
- The episode was the penultimate film featuring actor Alexander Held; one final new episode with him will be aired later and ZDF has announced it will continue the series.
- Audience data source: AGF Videoforschung (AGF SCOPE 1.15; preliminary weighted data).
Connected Companies & Entities
5 Entities mapped“ZDF aired a new episode of the crime series "München Mord" featuring Alexander Held and recorded 4.03 million viewers....”
“Das Erste aired a repeat at 20:15 and attracted 2.28 million viewers with only an 11.3% market share that evening....”
“The ZDF episode won primetime ahead of the Supercup broadcast on Sat.1....”
“AGF Videoforschung (AGF SCOPE 1.15) is cited as the source for all audience and market-share data in the article....”
“The article is published by DWDL.de GmbH (© DWDL.de GmbH 2001-2026)....”
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ZDF's München Mord Wins Crime-Duel; SOKO Surges
ZDF's repeat of München Mord — scheduled into the lineup after the death of actor Alexander Held — narrowly beat ARD's Nord bei Nordwest in total viewers on the evening of 20 May 2026, according to AGF Videoforschung data reported by DWDL. München Mord attracted 3.08 million viewers versus ARD's 2.94 million, but Nord bei Nordwest outperformed in the 14–49 demographic (5.5% vs. 2.8% market share). Early-evening programming also saw strong performance: a repeat of SOKO Wismar reached 3.39 million viewers and a 25.0% share at 18:00. The third episode of XY Spuren des Verbrechens improved to 1.79 million viewers (9.6% share). DWDL lists channel market-shares and top programs for the date, citing AGF SCOPE provisional TV measurements as the data source.
ZDF wins primetime with ORF crime film Acht
The ORF-produced crime film 'Acht', winner at this year’s German Television Crime Festival, made ZDF the market leader on Wednesday evening. The broadcast drew 3.24 million viewers and a 17.9% share across all ages but performed very weakly with 14–49s (about 60,000 viewers; 2.0% share). ZDF’s 'heute-journal' that followed reached 3.27 million viewers and improved ZDF’s 14–49 share to 8.3%. The ARD channel Das Erste aired a repeat of 'Geliefert' with Bjarne Mädel, attracting 1.72 million viewers (9.5% share overall; 6.4% in 14–49). Audience figures are reported by AGF (AGF SCOPE 1.15, preliminary weighted TV data).
ZDF's 'München Mord' Leads German Time-Shifted TV Ratings Gains
The ZDF crime drama 'München Mord' recorded the highest increase in time-shifted TV viewership in Germany for the week of August 17–23, 2026, gaining 430,000 additional viewers to reach a total of 4.46 million. Other programs, including ZDF's 'heute-show Spezial' and ARD's 'Inas Nacht,' also saw substantial ratings increases after final consolidated audience measurement. These final weighted ratings, published eight days after broadcast by AGF Videoforschung, incorporate both digital recording playbacks and digital live streams, highlighting the growing significance of delayed viewing and streaming integration in modern audience measurement metrics.
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