An average of 2.44 million viewers watched the second half on ServusTV, and an average of 2.37 million viewers watched the first half. Public viewing is not included. The TV hit list is led by “Zeit im Bild” from March 15, 2020, when the Corona exit restrictions were announced, with 2.72 million viewers.
Austria’s elimination from the European Football Championship gave ServusTV its best ratings since the station was founded and was the most-watched match of the national football team since the start of teletest measurements in 1991. This is the first time that a private broadcaster has found itself among the country’s top television audiences, which are still dominated by the ORF. The “ZiB” on the Corona exit restrictions (2.72 million) is followed by an edition of the “Peter Alexander Show” from 1991 with around 2.59 million viewers and the first interview with Natascha Kampusch from 2006 with 2.55 million viewers. The fact that 1991 was a strong year for TV is also evident when looking at the other places: “Das Traumschiff” came in fourth place with 2.52 million viewers, the film “Crocodile Dundee” came in fifth place with 2.47 million viewers. Close behind were Austria’s elimination from the European Championship (2.44 million viewers) and ServusTV for the first time.
Each program only listed once
The top ten are completed by “Villacher Fasching” (1992; 2.32 million), “Die Rudi Carrell Show” (1991; 2.25 million), “Bundesland Heute” (2020; 2.22 million) and the men’s downhill at the 2003 Ski World Championships with 2.22 million viewers. Each program is only listed once in the top list, otherwise the “ZiB” would appear more frequently – for example, an edition in 2002 for the National Council elections with 2.6 million viewers. Felix Baumgartner’s stratosphere jump (2.3 million viewers) is also not included in the ORF ranking because, with a program length of nine minutes, it did not meet the list’s minimum requirement of ten minutes.
In general, football broadcasts always have top ratings. The European Championship match between Austria and Germany in 2008 was watched by an average of 2.19 million viewers. Just over 2 million people watched the penalty shootout in the final of the 2022 World Cup on TV.
