Strong start for «Who killed Birgitte?» On TV 2
384,000 viewers saw the premiere of Norway’s first true crime television series last night. «Who killed Birgitte?» gained a total of 43.9 per cent share among the target group of 20-49 years old.
– This is a very good start for Norway’s first true crime television series, «Who killed Birgitte?», and it has undoubtedly created a strong commitment with impressive 43.9 per cent market share in the target group of 20-49 years-old with 384,000 viewers, says Program Editor in Norwegian TV 2, Jarle Nakken.
«Who killed Birgitte?» is about the unsolved murder of the teenage girl Birgitte Tengs.
Challenging and demanding
The number of viewers climbed throughout the episode and at the peak, 417,000 persons followed the premiere of the series.
– It is both challenging and demanding to make such a series. It is good that producer Bjørn Eivind Aarskog, Bjørn Olav Jahr and all others involved not only reap good reviews and critique of the work that has been put into it but that it also moves the audience and engages widely with an important critical documentary series with public interest, Nakken continues.
The second episode of the series is broadcasted on TV 2 tonight at 9.40 pm.
«Everybody at work»
The series «Everybody at work» (Alle i Arbeid) also had its premiere on TV 2 last night. That was followed by 200,000 viewers who gave a 38.8 per cent share in the commercial target group 20-49 years, and 23.8 per cent among all Norwegian tv viewers.
– «Everybody at work» is an important series that focuses on our shared responsibility in establishing an inclusive working life and follows 12 participants with neurological diseases such as Asperger’s and Tourette’s syndrome, of which all of them has a desire to find work. This is definitely a satisfactory figure for the premiere, the Program Editor comments.
Facts about the Birgitte Case (Wikipedia)
The Birgitte case is a known unsolved Norwegian murder case that started on May 6th, 1995 when a local farmer, searching for some lost sheep, found the 17-years-old Birgitte Tengs raped and murdered in a shrubbery near the road a few hundred metres from her home at Skår in Kopervik on Karmøy (North Rogaland).
The case led to a comprehensive investigation. A cousin of the victim was at first convicted and later acquitted of the charges brought against him.
In spite of the fact that the cousin was acquitted of the murder by the court of appeals, he was still sentenced to redress the victim’s parents. The Court of Appeal’s massive statement of guilt was later considered by the European Court of Human Rights to be in violation of the innocence premise in the European Convention on Human Rights.
The case is still a criminal case, and as such considered as an unresolved murder. The cousin is (after many vain attempts at a resumption of the case) is still held financially responsible for the murder by the civil court.
© TV2.no / #Norway Today
