42% of the households in Germany own a smart TV set with 88% of the sets being connected to the internet.
The smart TV functions are used by 56% of the users, in the age group of 16 to 39 years by 65%. This leads to viewers watching less content scheduled by the broadcasters. This is the case for 41% (2016: 38%) of viewers.
In total, TV consumption remains attractive: 59% of the people between 16 and 39 years of age say that they spend more time in front of the TV set now compared with the time when they didn’t have a smart TV set as they are more often able to find the content they are looking for with the connected set.
59% in this age group are prepared to pay for TV/video content, but only 16% in the age group of 60 years or older.
These are the results of a survey Value_A Marketing Intelligence conducted in May 2017 among 2,000 households in Germany for a study compiled by German industry association gfu Consumer & Home Electronics.
The TV channels’ catch-up services top the list of the most-used smart TV features with 60%, followed by video-on-demand (VOD) with 56% and video clips with 54%. There is a huge gap between age groups: VOD is only used by 35% of people above 60 years of age, but by 74% between 16 and 39 years of age.
“What’s particularly interesting is the origin of programmes considerably shifting towards American content providers,” said Hans-Joachim Kamp, chairman of gfu’s supervisory board. “While linear television is mainly of local origin, the list of the most popular offers from the internet is headed by Amazon Prime with 73%. Netflix follows with 41% and Google Play with 28%. German player maxdome occupies the fourth slot with 24%.”
The average price of all TV sets sold in Germany currently amounts to €600. The people interviewed in the survey, however, are willing to spend between €800 and €900 for their next TV set. 43% (2016: 30%) are even prepared to invest more than €1,000 and 11% would spend more than €1,400.
The mostly given reason for the decision to buy a new TV set was Ultra HD with 47% (2016: 36%), topping the larger screen size (41%, 2016: 47%) for the first time. The third most important reason was, like in 2016, the desire to buy a smart TV set.
