Observed Signal · Jul 11, 2026 · Audience Measurement · Source: DWDL · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
ZDF World Cup Quarterfinal Draws 8.58M Viewers
The second FIFA World Cup quarterfinal (Spain vs. Belgium) aired live on ZDF on July 10, 2026, and averaged 8.58 million viewers. ZDF achieved a 43.0% market share overall and 55.0% among 14–49 year-olds (2.35 million). The halftime edition of the ZDF news show heute-journal reached 7.89 million viewers. The strongest non-sports contender was the ARD crime film “Steirertod” with 2.98 million viewers. Audience figures are based on AGF Videoforschung (AGF SCOPE) preliminary weighted data.
Daily TV audience and market-share figures for a major live sports broadcast are relevant to broadcasters, advertisers and media buyers but are routine measurement updates rather than industry-shifting changes.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- ZDF's live broadcast of Spain vs. Belgium averaged 8.58 million viewers on July 10, 2026.
- ZDF recorded a 43.0% market share among all viewers and 55.0% among 14–49 year-olds (2.35 million) for the match.
- The ZDF news program heute-journal during halftime reached 7.89 million viewers and a 48.7% market share in the young demo.
- The ARD crime film "Steirertod" attracted 2.98 million viewers and a 16.4% market share (all viewers).
- All audience data cited are from AGF Videoforschung (AGF SCOPE), preliminary weighted Bewegtbild data.
Connected Companies & Entities
8 Entities mapped“The live broadcast of the Spain vs. Belgium quarterfinal on ZDF averaged 8.58 million viewers....”
“The strongest non-sports contender was the ARD crime film "Steirertod," which reached 2.98 million viewers....”
“ProSieben's film "Gemini Man" achieved only a 3.0 percent share in the 14–49 target group that evening....”
“ProSiebenSat.1 appears in the site job listings and is referenced as a broadcaster group (e.g., ProSieben)....”
“A repeat of "99" on Sat.1 delivered a low 1.6 percent share in the target demographic....”
“The article states that the source for all data is AGF Videoforschung (AGF SCOPE)....”
“The article was published by DWDL.de GmbH and carries the site's copyright notice....”
“RTL achieved a 5.6 percent market share in the target group with a repeat of a chart show, averaging 870,000 viewers....”
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World Cup Final Reaches 17M+ Viewers on ZDF
ZDF's linear TV broadcast of the 2026 World Cup final between Spain and Argentina averaged 17.36 million viewers in Germany with a 65.1% market share, based on preliminary weighted AGF Videoforschung / AGF SCOPE data. In the 14–49 demographic the match drew 5.65 million viewers (73.0% share). The TV figure excludes viewers via ZDF’s media library and other online streams; Telekom's MagentaTV also carried the match but has not published figures. The final was the most-watched World Cup game in 2026 without German participation, outperformed the 2022 final in Germany (about 13.86 million on ARD) but remained below larger earlier finals (e.g., France vs. Croatia ~21.45 million in 2018). ZDF recorded strong pre/post-game audiences and high daily market shares on July 19, 2026, across the day.
World Cup Scores High; Tagesschau Tops Ratings
German linear TV on June 15, 2026 saw very strong audiences driven by FIFA World Cup matches and a peak for the evening news. Das Erste averaged 5.48 million viewers for Spain vs. Cape Verde (18:00) and 6.97 million for Belgium vs. Egypt (21:00). The 20:00 Tagesschau was the most-watched single broadcast with 8.32 million viewers and unusually high young-demo shares. A late ZDF match (Saudi Arabia vs. Uruguay) still reached one million viewers. Audience and market-share figures reported in the article are based on preliminary AGF SCOPE / AGF Videoforschung data and show higher reach than comparable World Cup group-stage numbers from three and a half years earlier in Qatar.
17.36M Watched World Cup Final on ZDF
The ZDF broadcast of the World Cup final drew 17.36 million viewers from 21:05, delivering a 65.1% market share and topping the tournament's earlier semi-final figures. Among 14- to 49-year-olds the game reached 5.65 million viewers (73.0%). The article notes that viewers who watched the final on Magenta TV or via livestream are not counted in the ZDF AGF figures. Other linear-TV highlights during the weekend included a Tatort repeat with 4.90 million viewers and strong audience numbers for ARD’s Tagesschau and a Brennpunkt special. Streaming chart movements in Germany were reported for Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video and Disney+, while a ZDF YouTube highlight clip (sportstudio fußball) reached over 3.1 million views. Data sources cited include AGF Videoforschung and MEEDIA (with chart assistance from agency Active Value).
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