Smart TV sets are becoming standard equipment in German TV households.
A total of around 4.6 million TV sets were sold in Germany in the first three quarters of 2018, reports industry association Deutsche TV-Plattform with reference to figures from GfK Retail & Technology. Of these, around 3.4 million (74%) are equipped with smart functions for internet-based services such as apps or catch-up services.
Compared to 2017 (69%), the share of smart TVs in the total market has risen by 5% and since 2015 (60%) by a total of 14%. The majority (86%) of the smart devices sold in 2018 support the HbbTV standard and thus the use of interactive services via the ‘red button’ on the TV remote control.
Recent studies (Digitasation Report 2018, study by gfu Consumer & Home Electronics May 2018) show that almost two thirds of smart flat screens are connected to the internet. In addition to TV sets, around 480,000 smart set-top boxes and devices for playing and recording video content were sold in the first nine months of 2018.
“Access to catch-up portals, apps or streaming and on-demand services is becoming even easier for viewers,” said Andre Prahl, Chairman of Deutsche TV-Plattform. “In addition to the market penetration, the performance of smart TVs is also increasing. For example, the latest features of the HbbTV standard, in the development of which Deutsche TV-Plattform was involved right from the start, open up great potential for the entire media industry and offer viewers and customers genuine added value.”
New business models and the further development of the HbbTV standard are on the agenda of the HbbTV Symposium and Awards 2018, jointly organised by the HbbTV Association and Deutsche TV Platform, which takes place today and tomorrow in Berlin. Among other topics, new forms of advertising with interactive, addressable advertising will be discussed as well as HbbTV Operator Applications (OpApp), enabling platform operators to create their own user interface in order to offer viewers a uniform TV experience across all devices.
