ARD to Make “Tatort” Available in Its Media Library on Fridays for Registered Users

Fans of Germany’s long-running crime series “Tatort” will no longer have to wait until Sunday evening to see new episodes. ARD plans to make them available in its media library the previous Friday, but only for registered users.

Episodes of “Polizeiruf 110” will also appear online before their linear television broadcast. Charlotte Lindholm, played by Maria Furtwängler, will become the first detective to benefit from the new arrangement. In the season opener, the Hanover investigator solves a murder in a village for people with dementia. The episode, “König in Gelb,” will be available from September 11 and will air on Das Erste on Sunday, September 13, at 8:15 p.m.

The early release is “for everyone who cannot wait until Sunday,” ARD programming director Christine Strobl said. The broadcaster says media-library views already provide about 10 percent of additional reach for “Tatort” films.

ARD clearly wants to expand that reach while increasing the number of registered users. Registration allows the broadcaster to offer more targeted recommendations. But the change may also further weaken the status of the Sunday crime drama as one of the last major shared television rituals in Germany.

“Tatort” has aired on Sundays at 8:15 p.m. on Das Erste since 1970. Around 20 investigative teams pursue crimes in cities across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

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for everyone who cannot wait until Sunday