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ARD’s Live, Improvised Crime Dinner Draws Big Audience, Divides Viewers

The prime-time experiment blended improvisation with audience voting to deliver strong ratings despite sharp online criticism.

Overview

  • Das Erste and ORF aired a two-hour live murder-mystery built on improvisation, with Axel Prahl and Jan Josef Liefers guiding the action and Jessy Wellmer moderating.
  • Viewers in Germany and Austria participated via phone and SMS and ultimately voted for the correct culprit without on-air spoilers.
  • AGF figures show 3.86 million average viewers and an 18.1% market share overall, including 630,000 aged 14–49 for a 16.4% share and a primetime win.
  • Device-level AEOS data from about one million Vodafone households indicated the program steadily shed viewers through much of its run before stabilizing late.
  • Social-media reaction ranged from perplexed to dismissive, even as Bill Kaulitz’s pink-cake entrance with a confetti cannon became a widely discussed moment.