1.9 million people in Germany regularly use illegal live TV signals, causing a loss of more than €430 million per year for media companies.
Overall, including the preceding and following stages of the value chain, the lost turnover amounts to around €700 million per year. This is associated with tax losses of €170 million per year. These are the results of a study German consulting and research group Goldmedia compiled for German commercial broadcaster association VAUNET (formerly VPRT).
The most frequently used illegal linear TV content is mainly sports, fictional content and documentaries. Television piracy is particularly intense among young adults between 18 and 23 years of age: Almost one third of the total use of illegal linear TV streams is accounted for by this age group.
Young men between 18 to 23 years of age account for the highest proportion of illegal use: 12% of this age group regularly use illegal linear TV streams, on average 90 minutes per day. The vast majority of young men rate access to illegal TV content as simple or very simple.
Interestingly, 89% of the users of illegal TV streams would opt for legal offers if they were no longer able to access illegal services.
