COLOGNE, Germany -- Leaders of Germany's once unassailable TV production sector have been sandbagged by a barrage of U.S. hit series. Now they're mad as hell and they aren't going to take it anymore.
It is no secret that U.S. series are on the rise internationally -- shows like "Lost", "Desperate Housewives" and "CSI: Miami" are driving a renaissance in American programming around the world.
But nowhere has the success of U.S. series been as dramatic as in Germany. Just two years ago, there were no American-made dramas in primetime on the top four national networks. German programming was king.
Now, no fewer than 20 American dramas air in primetime on Germany's commercial networks -- from "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation", "House" and "Monk" on RTL to "Criminal Minds" and "NCIS" on Sat.1 to "Invasion" and "Lost" on ProSieben.
Where once Berlin cops bagged the bad guys in homegrown series like "Wolff's Turf" and "Abschnitt 40", German viewers are now tuning in to watch William L. Petersen hunt down the Las Vegas underworld in "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and Mandy Patinkin outwit America's most wanted in "Criminal Minds".
"The U.S. shows are very fast in the way they tell stories; they go deeper, to a more psychological level," said RTL spokesman Claus Richter. "We see a change in viewer patterns, especially among younger viewers, where, at the moment, German shows just aren't interesting."
But that could change, and sooner than many in Los Angeles expect.
It is no secret that U.S. series are on the rise internationally -- shows like "Lost", "Desperate Housewives" and "CSI: Miami" are driving a renaissance in American programming around the world.
But nowhere has the success of U.S. series been as dramatic as in Germany. Just two years ago, there were no American-made dramas in primetime on the top four national networks. German programming was king.
Now, no fewer than 20 American dramas air in primetime on Germany's commercial networks -- from "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation", "House" and "Monk" on RTL to "Criminal Minds" and "NCIS" on Sat.1 to "Invasion" and "Lost" on ProSieben.
Where once Berlin cops bagged the bad guys in homegrown series like "Wolff's Turf" and "Abschnitt 40", German viewers are now tuning in to watch William L. Petersen hunt down the Las Vegas underworld in "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and Mandy Patinkin outwit America's most wanted in "Criminal Minds".
"The U.S. shows are very fast in the way they tell stories; they go deeper, to a more psychological level," said RTL spokesman Claus Richter. "We see a change in viewer patterns, especially among younger viewers, where, at the moment, German shows just aren't interesting."
But that could change, and sooner than many in Los Angeles expect.
- 12/20/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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