Observed Signal · Jun 26, 2026 · Ratings Report · Source: DWDL · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
ZDF's Bergretter, RTL Special Perform Before Kickoff
DWDL reports TV audience figures for June 25, 2026, showing that Das Erste dominated late‑night viewing with Germany’s World Cup group match while other channels posted much smaller shares. ZDF’s repeat of Die Bergretter averaged about 3.08 million viewers (15.7% market share). RTL’s special on the heat reached roughly 1.48 million viewers and achieved a 14.3% share in the 14–49 demo, while the following Die Bachelors collapsed to 550,000 viewers (3.2% in 14–49). Free‑TV premiere performance was weak: Vox’s Perfect Match drew about 510,000 viewers (1.7% in 14–49). All numbers are cited as preliminary AGF SCOPE / AGF Videoforschung data.
Provides detailed audience and market‑share measurements for major German broadcasters around a World Cup match — relevant for media buyers, broadcasters and ad planners but not a sector‑shifting announcement.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Das Erste's late broadcast of the World Cup match (Ecuador – Germany) reached 18.47 million viewers and a 71.9% market share.
- ZDF's repeat of 'Die Bergretter' averaged 3.08 million viewers and a 15.7% market share.
- RTL's heat special attracted 1.48 million viewers and achieved a 14.3% market share in the 14–49 target group; 'Die Bachelors' later fell to 550,000 viewers and 3.2% (14–49).
- Vox's Free‑TV premiere of 'Perfect Match' drew 510,000 viewers and a 1.7% market share in the 14–49 demo.
- All audience and market‑share figures are sourced from AGF Videoforschung / AGF SCOPE (preliminary weighted data).
Connected Companies & Entities
9 Entities mapped“Shortly before the kickoff of the last German World Cup group match, ZDF was able to score with an old 'Bergretter' episode....”
“Das Erste achieved a market share of over 70 percent late Thursday evening with the last World Cup group match of the German national team....”
“On Sat.1 an old episode of 'Hast du Töne?' reached 440,000 viewers and 1.8% in the target group before 'Deutschlands größte Geheimnisse' fel...”
“Kabel Eins' screening of 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (1)' did not exceed 250,000 viewers....”
“On RTLzwei 'Reeperbahn privat' still managed 2.8% in the target group, while 'Messie‑Team' later dropped to 0.7%....”
“The article cites AGF Videoforschung / AGF SCOPE as the source for all data in this article (preliminary weighted data; market standard: mov...”
“Vox scheduled the film 'Perfect Match' (the Steffi Graf / Andre Agassi love story) as a Free‑TV premiere, but only 510,000 viewers tuned in,...”
“At RTL a special about the heat in Germany convinced viewers — 1.48 million people tuned in, and in the 14–49 target group the market share ...”
Related Market Signals & Shifts
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RTL Football Dominates; ZDFneo Performs Well
DWDL.de reported on TV audience figures for broadcasts on 6 June 2026. RTL's live coverage of the Germany friendly drew the largest audience (nearly nine million viewers) and secured an exceptionally high share among 14–49-year-olds, leaving competing prime-time programmes with substantially smaller audiences. The public broadcasters ZDF and Das Erste posted solid results with a ZDF repeat of "Ein starkes Team" (3.03 million; 14.5%) and Das Erste's repeat of "Im Netz der Gier" (1.92 million; 9.2%). Commercial channels performed variably: Sat.1 had the best 14–49 performance among non-football programmes, ProSieben underperformed in the young demo, and ZDFneo had a strong day in the 14–49 demo (4.0%), boosted by multiple "Star Trek" films (between ~480k–510k viewers and rising 14–49 shares). Data source: AGF SCOPE / AGF Videoforschung.
Das Erste Leads Primetime; Kabel Eins Strong
DWDL.de reports German linear-TV audience figures for a Thursday evening during which the FIFA World Cup match was exclusive to MagentaTV. In free-to-air primetime Das Erste led with a special 'Brennpunkt' (4.21 million viewers) and strong market shares (23.6% overall; 16.3% among 14–49). Subsequent programming on Das Erste also performed well (e.g., a Vienna crime repeat with 3.25 million viewers). RTL’s 'The Bachelors' drew about 0.6 million viewers and underperformed among younger adults, while Kabel Eins’ film 'Catching Fire' delivered a strong 7.8% share in 14–49 (480,000 viewers). VOX and other commercial channels (ProSieben, Sat.1, RTLzwei) posted lower shares. Data source: AGF Videoforschung (AGF SCOPE, preliminary weighted data).
ZDF crime drama draws 4.6M despite World Cup
A repeat broadcast of the ZDF crime drama "Nord Nord Mord - Sievers und das Geisterhaus" reached 4.59 million viewers on the evening of 22 June 2026, delivering a 20.7% market share in prime time despite concurrent World Cup coverage. Das Erste's live World Cup match (Argentina vs. Austria) remained the day's most-watched programme with about 7.27 million viewers. ZDF achieved a day market share of 15.5%, helped by additional daytime shows performing above 25% in share. Other commercial channels struggled in prime time: Sat.1 and ProSieben posted low audience figures (around 0.5 million and 420,000 respectively) and single-digit market shares in key demos. All audience figures are preliminary and sourced to AGF Videoforschung (AGF SCOPE).
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