Heavy bankruptcy for ARD: national team fails twice
At the World Cup in Qatar, the German team not only lost against Japan, but also on TV. Significantly fewer viewers were interested in the team’s first group game on ARD than at the last World Cup. In general, a negative trend is also noticeable at the World Cup.
National team: Only 9.23 million see World Cup debut
The German national soccer team has completed its first group game at the World Cup in Qatar. They lost 2-1 to Japan, but far fewer viewers noticed that on TV than was the case at the 2018 World Cup opener in Russia. Only 9.23 million viewers watched the defeat against Japan on ARD. For comparison: the first game of the 2018 World Cup was followed by almost 26 million viewers in front of the screen.
The significantly reduced interest can perhaps be explained by the criticism of host country Qatar and boycott calls for the World Cup. On the other hand is one Kick-off time of 2:00 p.m. on a Wednesday also certainly not the perfect time to break records in TV ratings. The German start at the 2018 World Cup in Russia took place on a Sunday at 5:00 p.m. Even then, the first group game was lost.
After all, the market share in the World Cup game against Japan was impressive, at 59.7 percent. In the advertising-relevant target group of 14 to 49 year olds the proportion was even 62.7 percent. At the start in Russia, the market share was 81.6 percent overall, and a full 85.7 percent was recorded among 14 to 49 year olds (source: Quotenmeter.de).
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World Cup on TV: Even thrillers are more popular
Even away from the first German game, a negative trend has already made itself felt. When the USA took on Wales an average of only 4.35 million viewers tuned in to ZDF. On the other hand, 4.41 million people watched the repetition of the crime thriller Donna Leon, which was broadcast at the same time on ARD.
Although TV viewing tends to be much higher towards the end of the year than in the summer, far fewer viewers have shown interest in the World Cup in Qatar. Should there be a preliminary round from the German teamthe ratings in this country are likely to continue to fall.
