Munich, March 9, 2009. The Dutch version of “The Successor” with the world-famous mystifier Uri Geller witnessed a phenomenal finish on Dutch broadcaster SBS 6. Last Friday, March 6, the grand finale of the captivating prime time talent show came to an incredible average market share of 25.9 percent in the highly coveted 20 – 49 demographic. “De Nieuwe Uri Geller”, as the show is called in Dutch, succeeded in attracting growing numbers of viewers throughout the show and peaked at an amazing market share of 44.8 percent. The show clearly dominated Dutch television last Friday, crushing fierce competition such as RTL 4’s “X-Factor”, the “Dik Voormekaar Show” (NL 1), and Hollywood blockbuster “Borat” (RTL 5). The show also prompted viewers to interact heavily with the show, as call-ins in the sixdigit range demonstrated. The second season of “The Successor” drew an average audience share of 18.1 percent (20 – 49 demographic) on SBS 6. “The Successor” is marketed worldwide by SevenOne International, the programming distribution arm of ProSiebenSat.1.
Jens Richter, Managing Director of SevenOne International: “We are thrilled about the show’s success on SBS 6. ‘De Nieuwe Uri Geller’ clearly struck a nerve with the Dutch audience: From the very first minute, it attracted more and more viewers and finished off as the number one program on Dutch television last Friday.”
The Successor
“The Successor” is produced by Kuperman Productions & Uri Geller and has been on air worldwide, including the US (NBC), Canada (CTV), Iceland (365), Turkey (Star TV), Hungary (TV 2), the Netherlands (SBS 6) and all over Latin America (A&E). The talent show premiered in 2007 internationally as “Phenomenon” on NBC. In Germany, the first season eight episodes of “The next Uri Geller” drew an average share of 30.6 percent within the young adults’ age group (14-29) and exceeded the channel’s Tuesday night prime time slot by 73 percent in the 14-49 demographic. On Hungary’s TV 2 and Turkey’s Star TV, ”The Successor“ outperformed the channels’ average shares. The show was the first-ever live show on Russia’s RTR. Originally, the format camefrom Israel, where the TV station Keshet earned an average market share of 50 percent with the search for Uri Geller’s successor in 2006. That was the highest audience share of any TV show in the history of Israeli TV.