Til Schweiger’s crime series score record ratings at German TV

PanARMENIAN.Net - An astounding 12.57 million German viewers tuned in Sunday, March 10 night to watch the small screen return of homegrown star Til Schweiger (Inglourious Basterds), The Hollywood Reporter said.

Schweiger, who started his career in German TV, made his debut on hit local crime series Tatort Sunday night, generating the best ratings for the long-running procedural in 20 years.

Some 33.5 percent of all viewers tuned in to public broadcaster ARD to watch the Schweiger Tatort, a high-water mark not seen for the series since Sept. 26, 1993. The figure in the key 14-49 demographic was an even more impressive 33.8 percent.

Schweiger easily defeated the U.S. competition. The popular military crime show Navy CIS on commercial network Sat.1 had to make due with an audience of 3.85 million in primetime, a market share of 14.8 percent in the 14-49 demo in direct competition. RTL's airing of the film Evan Almighty (2010) drew 2.16 million viewers for a 9.6 percent share while the German free TV premiere of No Strings Attached (2011) on Pro7 secured 11.9 percent of 14-49 year-olds.

Schweiger is also riding high at the German box office. His family friendly comedy Kokowaah 2, which he co-wrote, co-directed and stars in, has earned more than $20 million in three weeks here for Warner Bros. and is on track to become the most successful German-language film of the year so far.