Germans are consuming an increasing amount of audio and audio-visual media content.
In 2018, audio-visual media usage by Germans aged 14 and over rose to over 9 hours per day for the first time. Radio and television continued to be by far the most frequently consumed types of media, while a further increase was registered in the use of audio and audio-visual media content via the internet. This emerges from the media usage analysis published by German commercial broadcaster association VAUNET (formerly VPRT), based on third-party sources.
The figures for daily video and television use in 2018 amounted to a total of 5 hours and 12 minutes (2017: 5 hours and 6 minutes), the major part of this still arising from television consumption, which reached 3 hours and 54 minutes across the entire population (aged 14 and over) in the year 2018 (2017: 3 hours and 58 minutes). Audio usage remained at 3 hours and 52 minutes. Germans over the age of 14 spent 3 hours and 12 minutes listening to the radio on workdays (same as 2017).
On average, media offerings on the internet were used by 14 to 69-year-olds for 1 hour and 37 minutes in 2018 (2017: 1 hour and 29 minutes). Of this, around 71 minutes (2017: 58 minutes), corresponding with 73%, were attributable to the use of online videos and music streaming/MP3. The cumulative daily consumption of other forms of audio-visual media, such as cinema, video games, DVD/blu-ray and CDs, amounted to 47 minutes (2017: 50 minutes).
In the course of an average day, radio was the most frequently used medium from morning until early evening, with television being the most-consumed medium and recording the widest reach during the evening from around 18.00 CET onwards. Internet usage remains relatively stable throughout the day.
In 2018, 92.2% (2017: 91.8%) of Germans aged 3 years and over watched television on a regular basis, 93.8% of adults from the age of 14 listened regularly to the radio and 81.2% of people aged 16 or more made regular use of the internet. The relevant daily reach amounted to 67.6% in the case of television, 77.6% for radio and 52.3% for the internet.
