The Masked Singer: ProSieben Hit Plunges to All-Time Low

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents The Masked Singer: ProSieben Hit Plunges to All-Time Low.

"The Masked Singer" long held the status of one of ProSieben's flagship shows – but that era is now over. The music show set a historic negative record on Wednesday evening (September 30), one likely to cause concern at the network. As Focus Kultur reports, the show posted the worst numbers it has ever recorded.

Specifically: only 160,000 viewers in the commercially relevant target audience of 14- to 49-year-olds tuned in to the third episode of Season 13, according to Promiflash, which cites DWDL. The market share in that age group stood at a meager 5.7 percent. A new low for the show hosted by Matthias Opdenhövel – "The Masked Singer" has never performed worse in its entire history.

How bad is the drop really?

Anyone familiar with "The Masked Singer" knows: for years, the show was a reliable ratings driver for ProSieben. That makes the current figure all the more striking. 160,000 viewers in the age group most important to the advertising industry is an alarming signal for a primetime format on free-to-air television. The 5.7 percent market share sits well below what ProSieben is otherwise accustomed to in this time slot.

Especially bitter: the drop comes at the worst possible time – in the middle of a season for which the network fundamentally altered its long-established concept.

What has ProSieben changed about the show?

As Promiflash reports, the current episodes are no longer broadcast live as before, but are pre-recorded. This change breaks with a principle that has defined "The Masked Singer" since its launch: the live feeling, the suspense over whether a costume will be revealed in time.

Whether this specific change triggered the ratings crash cannot be proven based on the numbers alone. What is clear, though: the ratings are falling particularly low precisely in the season in which ProSieben has altered the concept. A coincidence that raises questions.

What's next for the show?

What the executives at ProSieben will make of the record low remains unclear. Neither Focus nor Promiflash reports any official reaction from the network. Season 13 is still airing; the upcoming episodes will show whether the figure was a one-off dip or whether the downward trend continues. More than just a bad rating is at stake for "The Masked Singer": it's a question of whether the show can remain on the schedule in its current form going forward.