Sat.1 had reached an 11.0 percent audience share in February. Among the total audience aged three and over, Sat.1 achieved 10.3 percent, increasing both from the previous month, when it had 10.2 percent, and from March 2007, when it had 9.9 percent.
With its new early-evening schedule launched on 17 March 2008, Sat.1 increased its audience share in the 5:00 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. time slot by 0.7 percentage points, from 10.2 percent between 1 January and 14 March on weekdays to 10.9 percent between 17 and 31 March. Audiences quickly accepted the strategy of optimising flow by scheduling crime documentaries as a block, followed by the magazine programme and news. Sat.1’s most successful programmes during the month were the films “Siegfried” at 22.8 percent, “Pretty Woman” at 19.7 percent and “Die Hard with a Vengeance” at 24.7 percent; “Champions TV” with live coverage of FC Porto versus Schalke 04 at up to 36.7 percent; and the US series “NCIS” at up to 17.9 percent.
April programme highlights include the television-film premieres “Der Prinz von nebenan” with Wolke Hegenbarth and Steffen Groth and “Bis dass der Tod uns scheidet” with Muriel Baumeister and Henning Baum; the event show “Jetzt geht’s auf den Rummel” with Hella von Sinnen, Hugo Egon Balder and numerous celebrity guests; and the free-to-air premieres of “The Legend of Zorro”, “Barefoot” and “Finding Neverland”. From 18 April, Sat.1 will show “Die Niels Ruf Show” on Fridays at 11:15 p.m. Football fans can look forward to at least six top international matches live in April: the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and semi-finals on “Champions TV”, including Fenerbahçe Istanbul versus FC Chelsea and FC Barcelona versus Schalke 04, and the UEFA Cup quarter-final first and second legs between Bayern Munich and Getafe.
