On TV and in the stream: Table Tennis Bundesliga reaches an audience of millions with Liebherr TTBL Final
Top-class sport in front of an inspiring backdrop: With the Liebherr TTBL finals, the season in the German Table Tennis League (TTBL) not only reached a brilliant climax, but also set new standards in terms of media coverage. The live broadcasts on free TV on ARD and streamed on Spontent on Twitch once again reached an audience of millions.
Viewers were treated to top-class table tennis at the Liebherr TTBL final on July 9. In the table tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) showdown, Borussia Düsseldorf beat 1. FC Saarbrücken TT 3:1 to be crowned German champion for the 33rd time in the club's history. As the Liebherr TTBL final was embedded in the multi-sport event "The Finals 2023 Rhine-Ruhr", the ARD broadcast live several times in the main TV program. The complete event was available to watch live on Spontent on Twitch.
"Thanks to the integration in 'Die Finals 2023 Rhein-Ruhr', we succeeded in reaching a very large audience with our sport and bringing the fascination of table tennis into living rooms," said Nico Stehle, managing director of the organizing Tischtennis Bundesliga GmbH. "We are convinced of the concept of a multi-sport event, so we were very pleased to be part of 'The Finals' for the second time after 2021. Many thanks to the entire team around 'Die Finals' for the trust and the great cooperation."
Millions of sports fans tune in to public broadcasters
The Liebherr TTBL final was enthusiastically received not only by 2,700 euphoric fans in the Castello in Düsseldorf, but also by the viewers in front of the screens. With the live broadcasts, ARD reached up to 1.6 million viewers each time and thus recorded a market share of up to 12 percent. Just under 30,000 sports fans tuned in to Spontent's live stream.
In addition to the live broadcasts, the summaries on the public TV stations also achieved high ratings. Among others, ZDF's heute journal reported on the Liebherr TTBL final, in addition to other highlight summaries in various news formats of ARD, ZDF and Saarländischer Rundfunk (SR). The various broadcasts are still available in the media libraries. In total, more than 4 million viewers tuned in.
Social media clips already viewed around 15 million times
The TTBL also posted record figures on social media. The video clips from the Liebherr TTBL final reached an international audience of millions and have now been viewed around 15 million times. The TTBL channel on TikTok in particular continues to grow: Only launched in November 2022, the number of followers is already approaching the 400,000 mark.
"We are very happy about the great response and would like to thank everyone who tuned in, visited us at the Castello or followed the matches on the social web," says Nico Stehle. "The numerous TV broadcasts of our top events - i.e. the Liebherr TTBL Final and the Liebherr Cup Final - show that table tennis is a highly attractive format for television and that the TTBL is a reliable partner for broadcasters. Now we are looking forward to an exciting future and the broadcast of the Table Tennis Bundesliga on Dyn."
The new streaming platform Dyn will launch at the end of August and will be the new media home of the Tischtennis Bundesliga. From now on, all TTBL matches can be seen live and exclusively on Dyn. The new TTBL season will start with the 1st matchday from August 25 to 28, 2023.