Bundesliga attracts nearly 5 million viewers over first weekend

ARD’s Sportschau channel’s coverage of the opening weekend of German soccer’s top flight the Bundesliga attracted 4.88 million viewers, giving the programme second place in the German TV ratings charts for Saturday evening.

The broadcast gave the channel 27.5 percent market share.

Televised football in Germany has been a huge success in recent months with the country also leading the international ratings charts for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in the summer, with a high proportion of worldwide viewers of the games coming from the country.