October best month in 5 years for RTL

Imports 'House,' 'CSI' help network during ad slump

By Scott Roxborough

Nov 2, 2009, 11:04 AM ET

COLOGNE, Germany -- German advertising revenue might still be in a slump but ratings at leading German network RTL hit a five-year high in October.

U.S. imports such as "House" and "CSI" along with local versions of the "Got Talent" and "Farmer Wants a Wife" formats helped RTL to a 18.4% share of the key 14-49 demographic, its best month since January 2004.

RTL also secured the overall ratings crown, with a 13.5% share of the October audience, ahead of public broadcaster ARD (12.7%).

The RTL "family" of channels -- which includes RTL, RTL2, Vox, Super RTL and n-TV -- took a 36% share of the ad-relevant demo, compared with 31% for main competitor the ProSiebenSat.1 Group.

"House" remains the most popular U.S. series in Germany. The new season has regularly carved out between 25% - 27% of the 14-49 demographic. But it's the German version of "Got Talent" -- here called "Das Supertalent" -- that rules the ratings. The premiere of the third season garnered a 38% share with 7.7 million viewers tuning in.

October best month in 5 years for RTL

Imports 'House,' 'CSI' help network during ad slump

By Scott Roxborough

Nov 2, 2009, 11:04 AM ET