BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The private broadcaster RTL has achieved solid ratings with the second production of its Jesus Christ musical "The Passion", but has lost almost 700,000 viewers compared to last time. 2.23 million people (9.7 percent) tuned in to the live show from Kassel at 8.15 pm. For the first performance in Essen in 2022, the figure was 2.91 million (11.1 percent).

In the new production of the Passion, Jesus was played this time by singer and presenter Ben Blümel (42), while actor Jimi Blue Ochsenknecht (32) slipped into the role of the traitor Judas. Singer Nadja Benaissa (41) from the pop band No Angels played Mary, the mother of Jesus. In the target group of 14 to 49-year-olds, which is important for advertising sales, 12.4 percent (590,000 people) watched the show. This compares with 14.1 percent for the first performance.

The mini-series "Kafka" with stars such as Joel Basman and David Kross, which was launched on Tuesday in the shadow of the classic soccer match between Germany and the Netherlands, continued to attract remarkably little interest. Just 1.35 million viewers (5.4 percent) gathered in prime time to watch the ambitious project on the first channel. By the sixth and final episode, which ran until 10.30 p.m., only 1.16 million (5.6 percent) remained. The mini-series has been available in the media library since March 20.

The most successful prime-time channel was ZDF with the investigation show "Aktenzeichen XY... Ungelost" with 5.50 million viewers (22.5 percent). This time, the topics included a brutal doorstep robbery of a senior citizen in Flensburg, a bank robbery in Neuss in the Rhineland and a fatal hit-and-run car accident in Koln.

Sat.1 attracted 1.50 million viewers (6.8 percent) with the show "Das große Promibacken - Osterspezial". The ProSieben comedy show "TV total" with Sebastian Pufpaff attracted 1.42 million viewers (5.7 percent). The US crime series "CSI: Vegas" on Vox attracted 1.02 million (4.1 percent) viewers. Kabel eins showed the American action comedy "Beverly Hills Cop III" from 1994, which 1.01 million (4.3 percent) wanted to watch./bok/DP/ngu