German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF are looking back at a very successful winter sports season. The viewership numbers were distinctively higher than during the previous winter. In particular, biathlon, Alpine skiing and ski jumping saw an average increase of 600,000 viewers. The channel's winter sports coverage attracted a peak audience of more than 6 million viewers. The market shares were slightly above 30%. ARD and ZDF's partners were also benefiting from the increased audience figures. In addition to special advertisement partners BMW and E.ON (biathlon), IKK classic (ski jumping), and Audi (Alpine skiing), ARD and ZDF's program partners such as Erdinger Alkoholfrei (biathlon), Veltins (ski jumping, Nordic World Ski Championships) and Zurich Versicherung (Alpine skiing, Nordic combined) were able to improve their brand awareness and brand image through their winter sports presence. Erdinger Alkoholfrei increased its brand awareness among sports fans from 39% to 54% from the beginning to the end of the winter sports season. Veltins was able to boost its figure by 18 percentage points to 46% and Zurich Versicherung from 12% to 27% (AS&S).
