Following the successful pan-European airing of the crime series The Team, German producer Peter Nadermann (pictured) is working with ZDF, Network Movie, Nordisk Film and Lumiere on Season 2 with Danish writing duo Mai Brostrøm and Peter Thorsboe.

First aired on DR1’s 20hr00 Sunday slot last February, the first European road movie cop show The Team drew nearly 1.5 million viewers (55% share) and went on averaging 1 million viewers for a 45% share and 4.3 likability (out of 5). 

In Germany ZDF tested a totally new strategy by premiering the series on its digital platform two weeks before the official linear transmission. “The Team was a door opener for this new distribution model,” says Nadermann. “By transmitting the English language version with German subtitles online first, ZDF broke away from Germany’s dubbing tradition and was able to reach new viewers, younger Germans who enjoy original versions. Secondly, they were able to make their free online platform much more attractive, which is very important in today’s rapid shift from linear to digital.”

The series had 20% market share and 4 million viewers when it premiered in March on the traditional German pubcaster, for an average viewing of 3.52 million and share of 16.5%. Broadcast almost simultaneously in Sweden, Austria and Switzerland, the series had an average share of 15.1% and 418,000 viewers on SVT1, and shares of 15.3 on ORF1 and 15.05% on SRF1. Belgium’s VTM just started transmitting it and Arte in France will be next.
“Our experience on The Team has been so positive and the model is so rich that other countries, such as Italy and Spain are interested in joining the financing of Season 2, “says Nadermann who hopes to start filming in 2016.

The first season of The Team was backed by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Nadermann and his company Nadcon have two other high end Swedish crime series in production: Modus (Miso Film) written by Brostrøm and Thorsboe and Spring Tide (Filmlance International) written by Rolf and Cilla Börjlind.

For the TV drama expert who has co-produced nearly 30 Scandinavian films and TV dramas since the early 2000, the next step will be to balance his traditional Swedish and Danish picks with projects from Norway, Finland and Iceland and to complement his strong crime focus with drama, such as The Legacy acquired for German speaking countries and France and just sold to SRG SSR in Switzerland.