20/11/24 – SOKO Donau ended its crime thriller season on ORF’s main evening programme with the searching for the killer of Dirk Stermann as dead motivation coach. 521,000 viewers (20 percent market share) watched the episode ‘Die 3 Säulen des Erfolgs’ on ORF 1. With an average of 564,000 viewers (21 percent market share), the 18th season of the crime series produced by Viennese SATEL Film also proved to be the long-running hit on the domestic television market and also generated enormous ratings on ZDF.
A case involving Dirk Stermann as dead motivation coach also brought SOKO Donau solid ratings success in the season finale of the 18th season of the ORF/ZDF crime series on ORF1. 521,000 viewers (20 percent market share) watched the episode ‘Die 3 Säulen des Erfolgs’ produced by Vienna-based SATEL Film. Austria’s most successful crime series said goodbye to the audience until the new season is broadcast next year.
The market shares of recent months show how popular the TV investigators are in Austria and abroad. On average, 564,000 viewers in Austria (21 percent market share) watched the episodes broadcast on ORF1. Also German fans can’t get enough of the investigators Martin Gruber, Andreas Kiendl, Lilian Klebow, Brigitte Kren, Maria Happel and Helmut Bohatsch. In September, 4.81 million fans watched the special ‘Der große Mitsch’ on ZDF with a market share of 20.5 percent.
‘This success proofs how indispensable domestic productions are for Austrian viewers. Regularly achieving top ratings in the fast-moving television business is not a matter of course and speaks in favour of the outstanding quality of this production. Series such as SOKO Donau make a significant contribution to strengthening the domestic TV industry by promoting local talent and creating jobs. They also play an important role in tourism by presenting the beauty and diversity of our cities and landscapes to a wide audience. The support of our partners is invaluable. It enables us to continue to realise high-quality productions that both inspire local audiences and gain international recognition’, says Heinrich Ambrosch, managing partner of Satel Film.
The 18th season of ‘SOKO Donau’ (on ZDF: ‘SOKO Wien’) is a production of SATEL Film in co-operation with ORF and ZDF, produced with the support of Fernsehfonds Austria, Filmfonds Wien, Land Niederösterreich, Cinestyria Filmcommission and Fonds and Filmcommision Graz.
For more photos from the start of filming, visit our press area.
