Five million connected TV sets will be sold in Germany this year, according to the high tech association Bitkom. This will be almost a tenfold increase within two years. The first internet-enabled TV sets were available in 2009. “Thanks to the high market penetration of hybrid devices, internet and television will finally merge. The web connection is now a standard feature in modern TVs “said Bitkom president Prof. Dr. August-Wilhelm Scheer.
Many German broadcasters are now launching online vide oservices, including the news from public broadcaster das Erste/ARD (Tagessschau), the ZDF mediathek, RTL Now, Arte and Sky, who all present catch-up and VOD services for PCs, tablets or smartphones. There are also new applications such as Internet-based music television, which adjusts to the musical tastes of the audience.
Some 25 million Germans regularly watch videos on the web. Nearly half of all internet users (49%) say the watch online videos. The most popular items are short videos (40%). One in six (17%) internet users said they watched TV news online, one in eight looks at movies for download or live stream. Live broadcasts, such as sporting events, attract 10% of all internet users.
