Munich, January 9, 2008. The German version of “The Successor – The next Uri Geller” left TV audiences spellbound, debuting to phenomenal ratings on ProSieben last night. Up to 4.80 million viewers witnessed the captivating talent show with the world-famous mystifier. The show is ProSieben’s highest-rated TV show premiere for 1.5 years, scoring a fantastic audience share of 20.1 percent in the highly coveted 14-49 demographic and exceeding the station’s average share of 11.7 percent (2007) at length. From its first half-hour to its fourth, “The Successor” 14-49 rating increased by 23%. With audience shares of 34.3 percent in the 14-29 demographic, the new show even crushed the competition in prime time. The show is marketed worldwide by SevenOne International.

Pure Energy on and off the screen: “The Successor – The next Uri Geller” not only had its studio audience mesmerized. The live show also prompted TV viewers from all across Germany to interact with the mystifier. Tens of thousands of call-ins during the show revealed that even at home viewers received telepathic messages, experiencing flying spoons or broken clocks that suddenly started to tick again. ProSieben’s web-based forum to the show is flooding with new threads and messages.

Said Jens Richter, Managing Director of SevenOne International: “This has been an amazing start. Uri Geller’s “The Successor” captures TV audiences around the world, providing a global concept. Judging by this opening success, we’re really excited about future episodes”.

The show premiered in the U.S. on NBC. “The Successor” has also been picked up by CTV (Canada) and Channel Nine (Australia). SBS 6 (The Netherlands) and TV2 (Hungary) launches will follow this spring.

The Next Uri Geller – Incredible phenomena

The ten hopeful contestants have a single goal: to walk in Uri Geller’s footsteps. In order to do so, they will have to astound the international star by competing each week to demonstrate a wide range of mystifying talents on a panel of celebrity guests who participate along with a studio audience. Ultimately, the winner will be determined by the viewers at home. “The Successor” is based on an Israeli TV format that aired in the spring of 2007 on Keshet, Channel 2, with an average audienceshare of 50 percent – the highest figure for any program in the history of Israeli TV. “The Successor” was created by Keshet Broadcasting, Kuperman Productions and Uri Geller.