Millions of German TV viewers are winter sports fans.

They currently enjoy the Olympic broadcasts for hours, give ARD and ZDF good ratings and ensure a surprising TV phenomenon: more people watch the winter games than the summer games.

"This is very unusual and difficult to explain," commented media researcher Christoph Bertling from the German Sport University in Cologne.

At the weekend, too, the coverage of the Olympic Games gave the public TV channels top ratings for many hours.

The biathlon broadcasts were particularly popular with an average of 4.57 million viewers in the morning German time and 4.98 million around noon.

The highest market share was 40.6 percent and illustrates the trend.

The most successful transmission from Beijing so far was the gold triumph of luger Johannes Ludwig on Sunday last week, when 5.14 million people watched.

For comparison: At the games in Tokyo, the summary of the final success of tennis player Alexander Zverev was the most successful broadcast with 4.5 million people.

"Summer games are actually always the biggest crowd favorite," said Bertling, who works at the Institute for Communication and Media Research.

Since the games take place in almost the same time zone and only an hour apart, the numbers from Tokyo and Beijing can be compared well.

According to sports director Thomas Fuhrmann, ZDF recorded an average of 1.76 million viewers in its hour-long transmissions from Beijing in the first week – compared to 1.34 million from Tokyo.

According to sports coordinator Axel Balkausky, the ARD has so far averaged 1.72 million – in summer it was 1.29 million.

"Winter sports have the great advantage that we broadcast Klein-Olympia every weekend on ARD and ZDF," said ARD team boss Christoph Netzel.

“From this, a viewing habit develops among the audience, they root for their own athletes.

This is another reason why winter sports are such a success program for us.”

Like the ARD team boss, media researcher Bertling sees another reason for the high ratings.

"Certainly the numerous medals in the early days play a major role," said the lecturer.

“German successes always attract a growing audience.

There is a kind of suction effect.

Sporting successes generate quotas.

The yield in Tokyo was rather low.”

Netzel sees it similarly.

Germany is "extremely successful in winter sports - you can cheer at home," said the ARD man.

"Especially in the first week, the Eiskanal was a gold mine, which also affects the ratings."

Jana Wiske sees other reasons in the external circumstances.

"The current Covid situation, the wintry temperatures and the good prospects of success for German winter sports enthusiasts ensure higher viewing figures in front of the television at home," said the media and communication scientist from Ansbach University of Applied Sciences.