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For the fourth year in a row, ZDF is the German market leader according to the market research institutes AGF and GfK. Their independent analysis of the German television landscape shows that ZDF achieved an annual market share of 12.5 percent in 2015, placing it significantly ahead of ARD’s 11.6 percent. RTL failed to break the ten-percent barrier, scoring a 9.9 percent share in 2015, Sat. 1 achieved 8.0 percent, and Pro7 5.3 percent.
Alexander Coridass, President and CEO of ZDF Enterprises: "We are very pleased with our shareholder's continued success in the German market, which is the most competitive in European Free TV. At the same time, we are proud to be able to offer these crowd-pullers to our international business partners in our portfolio. We are confident that our customers will achieve a similar kind of success as ZDF with these formats.”
In the fiction segment, ZDF's various "SOKO" crime series, which are broadcast weekdays at 6pm, pulled in an average of 3.34 million viewers (18.9 percent market share).
ZDF’s weekend TV movies remain strong performers with market shares up to over 20%. Among the year’s major successes were the two-parter "Death of a Girl". Its second episode attracted 8.08 million viewers and a 24.8 percent market share, making it ZDF's most successful fictional program of the year. Another audience hit was "Guilt – by Ferdinand von Schirach" with a 13.0 percent market share (4.08 million viewers). Brandnew series also scored high: 3.52 million viewers (16.4 percent market share) tuned in for the "The Team" at 10pm on Sundays, while 3.47 million (13.3 percent market share) saw "Blochin - the Living and the Dead".
ZDF's entertainment programs were equally popular with the audiences: "Quiz Champion" was enjoyed by an average of 4.30 million people (market share: 15.0 percent) and the show "The Game Begins!" was watched by 4.62 million on 7th March 2015 (market share 16.0 percent). "Crime Watch XY", one of German television's most successful formats and the world's first reality show, drew in 5.42 million viewers and reached new heights with a market share of 18.2 percent (2014: 5.23 million, 17.6 percent market share).
The documentary series "Terra X" was also well received by German TV viewers, with 3.79 million people (13.0 percent market share) in front of their screens on Sunday evenings at prime time. | 
