August 2006 Audience Share of ProSiebenSat.1 Group Rises to 30.6 percent

Munich, September 1, 2006. The ProSiebenSat.1 Groups ratings returned to their customarily high levels in August 2006, after lower ratings in the previous two months, which had been dominated by the extensive coverage of the Soccer World Cup. Sat.1, ProSieben, kabel eins, N24 and 9Live achieved a joint audience share of 30.6 percent in August 2006, topping the corresponding figure for the prior-year month. Compared with the preceding month, the Groups stations increased their combined audience share by 2.6 percentage points (July 2006: 28.0%; August 2005: 30.5%). All figures are preliminary and weighted, and refer to the key demographic between the ages of 14 and 49.

At 12.0 percent, Sat.1s audience share in August 2006 was 1.0 percentage point higher than in the previous month (July 2006: 11.0%; August 2005: 12.2%). Sat.1s new programming line-up for Sunday prime time, including the licensed U.S. series Navy CIS (up to 21.2%) and Criminal Minds (up to 19.3%), consistently earned above-average ratings and successfully competed with ARDs established Sunday evening crime dramas. The telenovela Verliebt in Berlin gained new record ratings, with audience shares of up to 29.0 percent. And the new telenovela Schmetterlinge im Bauch is off to an excellent start, with audience shares of up to 18.9 percent in the key demographic.

ProSieben earned an audience share of 11.9 percent in August 2006, higher than both comparison periods: 0.4 percentage points higher than August 2005 and 1.2 percentage points higher than July 2006. Since its debut on August 10, the new POPSTARS season has achieved record ratings of up to 24.7 percent. Along with blockbusters like The Last Castle (18.5%) and Open Water (18.0%), the stations Mystery Monday with U.S. series like Surface (up to 14.9%) has also been a big hit. And the Saturday evening show Extreme Activity hosted by Jürgen von der Lippe continued to attract above-average audience shares (up to 16.4%).

At 5.4 percent, the audience share achieved by kabel eins in August 2006 was 0.5 percentage points higher than in the previous month (July 2006: 4.9%; August 2005: 5.6%). The new U.S. mystery series Ghost Whisperer got off to the most successful start of any new series in the stations history, earning strong ratings of up to 11.8 percent. The new kabel eins sitcom King of Queens, broadcast for the first time on German television, also drew impressive prime-time ratings of up to 10.2 percent. And the self-produced emigrant documentary Mein neues Leben achieved market shares of up to 8.2 percent, the best ratings since that series was launched. And the stations Crime Friday line-up with the licensed U.S. series Missing (up to 8.5%) and Without a Trace (up to 7.4%) continued to be very successful.

N24 closed the month of August again as the leader among German TV news stations. With a market share of 1.1 percent in August 2006 (July 2006: 1.1%; August 2005: 1.0%), the Berlin-based news station was 0.4 percentage points ahead of its competitor n-tv (August 2006: 0.7%; July 2006: 0.7%; August 2005: 0.8%).

In August 2006, the quiz show station 9Live achieved an audience share of 0.2 percentage points in the relevant demographic, which is identical to the year-ago figure (July 2006: 0.3%; August 2005: 0.2%).

RTLs audience share for August 2006 was 15.4 percent (July 2006: 14.6%; August 2005: 15.2%). Voxs audience share was 7.5 percent, after 7.2 percent in the previous month (July 2006: 7.2%; August 2005: 6.5%). Super RTLs audience share was 2.5 percent (July 2006: 2.5%; August 2005: 2.8%), n-tvs was 0.7 percent (July 2006: 0.7%; August 2005: 0.8%) and RTL IIs was 6.2 percent, identical to the previous month (July 2006: 6.2%; August 2005: 6.3%).

Source: AGF/GfK, PC#TV / SevenOne Media, all households D + EU, viewers 14-49.