Season four, part one of hit primetime entertainment show Beat the Channel (local title: Joko & Klaas gegen ProSieben), produced by Florida Entertainment and distributed by Red Arrow Studios International generated huge ratings and widespread positive publicity for ProSieben in Germany during its five episode run, which ended on April 27, 2021.

The first episode of the new season posted a market leading share of 14.3% in the target group of 14-49-year-old viewers, rising to 19.3% for 14-39-year-olds, helping ProSieben win the night. These figures were sustained throughout the season, with the final episode five winning an overnight market share of 14.9% among 14-49-year-olds, and 20.1% among 14-39-year-olds.

The season four premiere generated particularly huge publicity in Germany; the show’s stars Joko Winterscheidt and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf won the episode, entitling them to a 15 minute live primetime slot the next evening to fill however they wished. Earlier editions of the 15 minute live broadcast have reached large numbers of viewers who tuned in to see what surprise the couple will spring on the broadcaster!

However, this time Joko and Klaas had a surprise for viewers. In collaboration with the channel and sponsors Deutsche Telecom and insurance company CosmosDirekt, the live 15 minutes, turned into an ad free, evening long live event aimed at raising awareness of the challenges facing the low paid, frontline medical staff in Germany and the country’s nursing crisis.

Over seven hours, nurse Meike Ista used a bodycam to film her shift at University Hospital Münster’s bone marrow transplant centre, while nursing colleagues from all over Germany added their stories via a split screen. The hashtag #nichtselbstverständlich (#notofcourse) allowed viewers to comment via Twitter, and the tweet stream was added to the screen.

Despite its length, the event generated a 17.2% market share among the 14-39-year demo and 12.2% among the 14-49-year-olds. The event trended in the No 1 spot on Twitter and dominated the news headlines in Germany the following day.