Germans devote around two thirds of their video time to classic linear television, but are also increasingly making use of video-on-demand (VOD) services.
US portals such as YouTube, Netflix and Amazon dominate the VOD market. This is the result of the Digitisation Report 2018 unveiled by the German media authorities at consumer electronics fair IFA in Berlin.
More than 29 million people from 14 years of age in Germany use VOD services at least once a month, corresponding with 42% of the population. YouTube tops VOD usage, followed by the catch-up services of TV channels, Amazon and Netflix.
Among 14 to 29-year-olds, VOD consumption has already outstripped linear television with more than half (56%) of all video use. The share of linear television in this age group has fallen from almost half (47%) to just over a quarter (29%) of the time budget over the past two years.
“The television market has changed rapidly compared to the previous year. The campfire evenings with the family in front of the TV set are now definitely a thing of the past. Instead, vouchers are bought in the supermarket for VOD series evenings,” said Cornelia Holsten, chairwoman of the directors’ conference of the media authorities.
“Programme-makers need to find out how best to combine linear and non-linear content. That means a lot of courage and a willingness to experiment if you don’t want to leave the market to others in the near future,” added Holsten. “Our task in this new market is to ensure fairness in competition.”
The Digitisation Report 2018 also shows that the full digitisation of TV reception is almost complete. 37.5 million households in Germany receive digital television signals which corresponds to 97% of TV households. Cable, the only transmission infrastructure that has not yet been fully digitised, will complete analogue switch-off in early 2019. At the time of data collection in June 2018, the digitisation rate among cable households amounted to 93%.
The German and Enlish-language versions of the Digitisation Report 2018 can be downloaded free of charge from the media authorities’ website.
