Huge audiences
An average of almost ten million viewers watches the Tatort crime series on television.
CRIME SCENE FEVER IN GERMANY. For millions of German television viewers it’s an absolute must: Sunday evening is Tatort time. At 8.15 p.m., the famous theme tune heralds the latest instalment in the crime series produced by Germany’s ARD and Austrian and the Swiss broadcasting companies. Since its start in 1970, police inspectors from different cities have alternated in investigating murder cases and solving them within the 90 minutes of screen time. On average, almost ten million viewers watched the series in 2013. Til Schweiger’s debut as a detective in Hamburg even attracted more than twelve million viewers. Besides Schweiger, the series boasts many other renowned German actors, and the role of a Tatort detective is seen as an honour. After all, it’s like a ticket to enter millions of people’s homes in Germany.
