– Germany has historically been the most important contributor on the sponsorship side. It is a large and populous country, so the fact that Germans have profiles in cross-country skiing is the most important thing from an international perspective, says news expert Torgeir Bjørn. He points out that in the heyday of cross-country skiing, Germany had a powerful crew and Justyna Kowalczyk generated enormous interest in Poland. 1.71 million Germans watched the men’s New Year’s race on ZDF, according to AGF. – Tour de Ski is important in Germany. We hope there will be more and more in the coming years, says Germany profile Katharina Hennig to news. Dramatic decline Six seasons ago – in 2017/18 – the number of viewers was calculated at 1.16 billion in total for the World Cup in cross-country skiing. Last season it was down to 690 million. This corresponds to a decrease of 41 per cent. Various factors are pointed out. Rights switching channels, failing sporting results from major nations and the absence of Russia. More hours on state television contributed to a huge increase in viewership in Russia. It peaked when Norway dropped the Tour de Ski in 2020/21 due to the coronavirus. Now the Russian viewers are no longer included in the calculation. Probably hardly anyone cares over there. The trend is also clear in Norway, Sweden and Finland. Gradually fewer people watch cross-country skiing. There is only one exception in the five major markets: Germany. SHOCKED: Sweden were big favorites ahead of the Russian team during the sprint relay in Beijing, but Germany came out on top. Photo: ODD ANDERSEN / AFP Two women are given much of the credit for the recovery: Katharina Hennig and Victoria Carl. The duo won a sensational Olympic gold in the sprint relay in Beijing in 2022. In the last year, both have distinguished themselves with an individual victory in the World Cup. – The viewers get to see that hard work pays off, and when there is more excitement, says Hennig to news. Germany against the tide Victoria Carl took her first World Cup victory in Trondheim before Christmas. In the first three stages of the Tour de Ski, there have been two 2nd places, and she is number two in the summary. On the men’s side, Friedrich Moch is in 6th place, only a second behind Jan Thomas Jenssen in 3rd place. The pink, German arrow points upwards. On site in Toblach was the German public broadcaster ZDF with a large team. Interest in the athletes is noticeably greater than in a long time. – We get more time on TV, and more young people watch the competitions. It’s good for German cross-country skiing, smiles Victoria Carl to news. She believes the results are the main reason for the success, as well as high activity on social media. The German star hopes there will be even more live races on the free channels ARD and ZDF. PS! You can listen to all the stages from the Tour de Ski on news Sport. On Wednesday, it continues with the sprint in Davos from 2.30 p.m.
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Viewership plummets in international cross-country skiing – but this woman gives hope – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
