"Turn it on, Your Honor!"
Television: Saturday has become a workday for TV judges. Roger Schawinski came up with the idea. The competition copied it.
Television Saturday becomes a working day for TV judges. Roger Schawinski invented it. The competition is copying it. Roger Schawinski made headlines in May with Anke Engelke's Late Show. The Swiss Sat-1 boss had to take a beating in the media for disappointingly low viewing figures. The media missed Schawinski's real ratings coup. Just nine days before the first "Anke Late Night", he quietly revolutionized Saturday afternoon TV.market share more than doubled
The special thing about Schawinski's idea: no spectacular new formats, no expensive foreign cult series. On the contrary: since May 8, Sat 1 has been showing exactly the same talk and court shows on Saturdays as during the week. The obvious choice: anyone who can be lured in front of the television during the week in the afternoon should also find time for their familiar programs on Saturdays. A mix of bought-in programs had to make way for this: "Picket Fences", "ED" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine".
The new Saturday afternoon show on Sat 1 caught on immediately. According to the German TV portal Quotenmeter.de, the psycho-talk show "Zwei bei Kallwass" achieved a market share of 11.7% from 2 p.m. on May 8. "Richterin Barbara Salesch" and "Richter Alexander Hold" even achieved 20.8% and 19.7% respectively. In June, Schawinski followed suit and also extended "Britt - Der Talk um Eins" into the weekend.
The success proves to be lasting. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Sat 1 had increased its market share on Saturday afternoons from 6.8% to 15.3% by mid-July. Competitor RTL finally had no choice but to simply copy Roger Schawinski's idea: Since July 18, RTL's court shows have also been flickering across the screen on Saturdays.
Ratings boost in Switzerland too
The program change has also helped Sat 1 to significantly higher Saturday ratings in Switzerland. Angelika Kallwass, Barbara Salesch and Alexander Hold also have a loyal fan base here in Switzerland, as an analysis of Telecontrol data shows. In the overall population, the average market share from 2 to 5 p.m. rose by over 280% to around 14%. Richter Hold attracts the most viewers: 77,400 people watch Sat 1 from 4 to 5 p.m. That is 314% more than before Schawinski's coup.
15 to 49-year-olds at a distance
There are two downsides. "Talk um Eins" with Britt Reinecke has not yet really found its place on Swiss Saturday afternoons. It saw a comparatively small increase in market share of 78%. In the advertising-relevant target group of 15- to 49-year-olds, the ratings even fell by 3.3%; the market share still rose by 21%.
This is also the second fly in the ointment: among 15 to 49-year-olds, the gains are significantly smaller than in the overall population. Before Schawinski's reform, the market share in this target group was higher than the overall share. Now it remains consistently lower.
This is most evident in the 4 to 5 p.m. hour. The science fiction series "Star Trek" was watched by an average of 18700 people, 14600 of whom were between 15 and 49. "Richter Alexander Hold" attracts 27,000 viewers in this age group. This means that only 35% of viewers of the court show belong to the advertising-relevant target group. Moreover, these are hardly fans of "Starship Enterprise".
There has been loud criticism in the relevant internet forums about the end of the series and the synchronization of weekdays and Saturdays. A good portion of the former Sat-1 audience is likely to turn to other television channels on Saturday afternoons. At least until Roger Schawinski's program idea catches on there too.
Sat 1 has gained a massive audience in Switzerland with its weekday programming on Saturdays. The court shows in particular made significant gains.
The success with the advertising-relevant target group of 15 to 49-year-olds is lower, but still remarkable. Only "Talk um Eins" is only marginally popular.
Stefano Monachesi
The special thing about Schawinski's idea: no spectacular new formats, no expensive foreign cult series. On the contrary: since May 8, Sat 1 has been showing exactly the same talk and court shows on Saturdays as during the week. The obvious choice: anyone who can be lured in front of the television during the week in the afternoon should also find time for their familiar programs on Saturdays. A mix of bought-in programs had to make way for this: "Picket Fences", "ED" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine".
The new Saturday afternoon show on Sat 1 caught on immediately. According to the German TV portal Quotenmeter.de, the psycho-talk show "Zwei bei Kallwass" achieved a market share of 11.7% from 2 p.m. on May 8. "Richterin Barbara Salesch" and "Richter Alexander Hold" even achieved 20.8% and 19.7% respectively. In June, Schawinski followed suit and also extended "Britt - Der Talk um Eins" into the weekend.
The success proves to be lasting. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Sat 1 had increased its market share on Saturday afternoons from 6.8% to 15.3% by mid-July. Competitor RTL finally had no choice but to simply copy Roger Schawinski's idea: Since July 18, RTL's court shows have also been flickering across the screen on Saturdays.
Ratings boost in Switzerland too
The program change has also helped Sat 1 to significantly higher Saturday ratings in Switzerland. Angelika Kallwass, Barbara Salesch and Alexander Hold also have a loyal fan base here in Switzerland, as an analysis of Telecontrol data shows. In the overall population, the average market share from 2 to 5 p.m. rose by over 280% to around 14%. Richter Hold attracts the most viewers: 77,400 people watch Sat 1 from 4 to 5 p.m. That is 314% more than before Schawinski's coup.
15 to 49-year-olds at a distance
There are two downsides. "Talk um Eins" with Britt Reinecke has not yet really found its place on Swiss Saturday afternoons. It saw a comparatively small increase in market share of 78%. In the advertising-relevant target group of 15- to 49-year-olds, the ratings even fell by 3.3%; the market share still rose by 21%.
This is also the second fly in the ointment: among 15 to 49-year-olds, the gains are significantly smaller than in the overall population. Before Schawinski's reform, the market share in this target group was higher than the overall share. Now it remains consistently lower.
This is most evident in the 4 to 5 p.m. hour. The science fiction series "Star Trek" was watched by an average of 18700 people, 14600 of whom were between 15 and 49. "Richter Alexander Hold" attracts 27,000 viewers in this age group. This means that only 35% of viewers of the court show belong to the advertising-relevant target group. Moreover, these are hardly fans of "Starship Enterprise".
There has been loud criticism in the relevant internet forums about the end of the series and the synchronization of weekdays and Saturdays. A good portion of the former Sat-1 audience is likely to turn to other television channels on Saturday afternoons. At least until Roger Schawinski's program idea catches on there too.
Sat 1 has gained a massive audience in Switzerland with its weekday programming on Saturdays. The court shows in particular made significant gains.
The success with the advertising-relevant target group of 15 to 49-year-olds is lower, but still remarkable. Only "Talk um Eins" is only marginally popular.
Stefano Monachesi
