Cannes – The interactive TV-event The Verdict, which celebrated its world premiere at MIPCOM in Cannes, has scored sensational ratings at its simultaneous broadcast in several European territories. The feature length legal thriller was watched by 6.9 million viewers with a 20 % market share in Germany.

Austrian Television celebrated a 28% market share with an audience of about one million viewers. In Slovakia and the Czech Republic the viewer number lay far above the channel’s average with high responses on social media platforms. Similar to ARD and ORF viewers, the audience at the Cote D’Azur passed judgement on the defendant: “not guilty”.

The Verdict, directed by Lars Kraume, is the latest in a row of joint projects of Oliver Berben and Beta Film and circles around the legal question whether it would be justified to shoot down a civilian plane converted into a deadly suicide missile.

The prestigious Grand Auditorium of the Cannes Film Festival Palace made room for the World Premiere of Beta Film’s The Same Sky. The high-ranking European cast and crew including Sofia Helin, Tom Schilling and Friederike Becht, as well as writer/creator Paula Milne walked the red carpet in front of the magnificent backdrop of Croisette Beach. With long-lasting applause, the premiere audience celebrated the first episode of the multi-layered family drama set in Cold War-Berlin, which will be broadcast on Germany’s ZDF next spring.