BERLIN — Like the rest of Europe, soccer fever has gripped Germany, where the weekend start of the Euro 2008 Championships captivated Teutonic TV auds across the country.
ZDF easily won the ratings battle over the weekend as 23.7 million viewers tuned in to watch Germany beat Poland 2-0 on Sunday, giving the pubcaster a 70% share.
The TV turnout surpassed that of the 2006 World Cup championships starting game, in which 20.1 million fans watched Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2, resulting in a 75.7% share.
The Euro 2008 has yet to best the World Cup 2006’s ratings record, however. Some 31.1 million viewers watched Italy clobber Germany 2-0 in the World Cup semi-final, providing ZDF with a spectacular 91.2% share.
ZDF also dominated on Saturday as 10.2 million (a 54.6% share) tuned in for the opening match between tournament co-host Switzerland and the Czech Republic and 10.5 million (a 40.5% share) watched the Portugal-Turkey game.
Prior to the Germany-Poland match on Sunday, nearly 10.5 million also watched tournament co-host Austria lose 0-1 to Croatia.
Formula One racing was the most-watched non-soccer program as nearly 4.8 million (17.6%) viewers on Sunday tuned in to RTL for the Canadian Gran Prix.
Rival webs all but threw in the towel over the weekend. Pubcaster ARD, usually the Sunday winner with its hugely popular crime series “Tatort” (Scene of the Crime), had to make do with only 3.5 million viewers (10.7%).
Contact Ed Meza at
ed.meza@mannaa.de