Winter Olympics smash German TV ratings with record-breaking viewership
The final medal events of the Olympic Games on Sunday once again drew massive audiences, consistently achieving viewership shares of over 30 percent. Starting at 9:55 a.m., 3.00 million viewers tuned in for the third heat of the four-man bobsleigh, pushing the market share to 34.9 percent. From 10:30 a.m. and 12:10 p.m., the women's 50-kilometer cross-country skiing race attracted 3.20 million and then 4.56 million viewers, with shares of 31.1 and 37.7 percent, respectively. The final four-man bobsleigh heat at 12:30 p.m. peaked at 5.88 million viewers, commanding a staggering 45.0 percent share. Later broadcasts included live cuts to the women's curling final and the freestyle skiing halfpipe competition, which pulled in 36.6 and 32.5 percent shares. The somewhat drawn-out closing ceremony, starting at 8:30 p.m., still drew 4.28 million viewers on ZDF, securing an 18.9 percent share.
On Sunday, however, the prime-time and daily ratings crown did not go to the Olympics but to the Dortmund-set Tatort episode "Schmerz"—the final case for Commissioner Rosa Herzog. The crime drama attracted 7.29 million viewers, earning a 27.9 percent share. Among commercial broadcasters, the evening's expected winner was Das Nachspiel, the aftershow of I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, which drew 2.33 million viewers and a solid 10.0 percent share. Jurassic World: Dominion also delivered a million-plus audience for Sat.1, with 1.20 million viewers and a 5.3 percent share. ProSieben's On & Off the Catwalk by Heidi Klum, however, struggled, reaching just 0.59 million viewers and a weak 2.3 percent share.
