Table Tennis Bundesliga reaches an audience of millions with Liebherr TTBL finals
The Liebherr TTBL Final 2021/2022 was not only a complete success in sporting terms and due to the return of spectators to the arena, but also in terms of media coverage. The live broadcasts on free-TV on SPORT1 and streamed on Sportdeutschland.TV posted strong figures, and overall the final of the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) once again reached an audience of millions.
German sports fans had been able to enjoy more than three hours of world-class table tennis on German free-TV on June 11, 2022. The title decision in the Liebherr TTBL Final 2022 between Borussia Düsseldorf and 1. FC Saarbrücken TT was broadcast live on SPORT1, enabling the organizing Tischtennis Bundesliga (TTBL) GmbH to continue the positive development of previous years. In the meantime, the ratings have been evaluated and both the sports broadcaster from Munich and the TTBL can be highly satisfied with the coverage achieved.
A total of around 364,000 different viewers tuned in to the 3:2 victory of defending champion Düsseldorf, led by superstar Timo Boll, over cup winners Saarbrücken. At the same time, a peak of around 120,000 viewers watched the thrilling final live on SPORT1. On average, around 60,000 fans watched, giving SPORT1 a market share of 0.7 percent.
The live broadcast was made possible by DOSB New Media GmbH as operator of Sportdeutschland.TV, which provided SPORT1 with a sublicense.
Summaries on public and private TV
In addition to the live broadcasts, the TTBL also achieved great coverage with the summaries on public TV channels, among others. For example, ARD's "Sportschau" showed a six-minute report shortly after the end of the match, and ZDF's "heute Nachrichten" also reported in a 30-second report. In addition, there was a 30-minute summary in the Sportarena on Saarländischer Rundfunk (SR) and a three-minute report on SAT.1's regional magazine. The various reports are still available in the media libraries. In total, more than 3 million viewers tuned in to the aforementioned formats, meaning that the Liebherr TTBL final again reached an audience of millions.
"We are very pleased with the great response and would like to thank everyone who tuned in," said TTBL Managing Director Nico Stehle. "In addition to world-class table tennis, TV viewers were also able to experience the great atmosphere that prevailed in the Ballsporthalle Frankfurt this year thanks to the return of the fans. During the pandemic, we succeeded in bringing the sport of table tennis back to television. The fact that the TTBL's top events continue to attract great interest from broadcasters shows that we are a reliable partner and that our sport is an unwaveringly attractive format for television."