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Live Improvised Crime Dinner Delivers 3.86 Million Viewers for ARD/ORF

The unscripted, interactive experiment delivered a ratings win, with real-time reactions flagging pacing and format issues.

Overview

  • Broadcast live on Nov. 22 in prime time, the two-hour whodunnit featured a role-briefed, unscripted ensemble steered on air by Axel Prahl and Jan Josef Liefers, with Bill Kaulitz performing and assisting as a play leader.
  • Viewers in Germany and Austria participated by phone and SMS, casting votes on their leading suspect as the investigation progressed in real time.
  • ARD reported an 18.1 percent market share and labeled the night an innovative TV experiment, with the episode now available in the ARD Mediathek.
  • Early reviews and social media reactions noted the ambition and star power but pointed to stretches of slack pacing, uneven improvisation and self-referential moments, according to outlets including DWDL and HNA.
  • The large-scale production used roughly 25 camera perspectives and faced live challenges such as an earpiece drop and a prop effect that misfired, as participants later described.