In 2024, 81% of TV viewers in Germany continue to watch linear television for the most part of their viewing time.
Three years ago, the share was 83% and is therefore only falling slightly. These are the findings of the 16th edition of the Deloitte Media Consumer Survey which analyses the German consumer perspective on TV and video services.
“Traditional television remains relevant and consistently plays to its strengths compared to streaming services. The audience particularly appreciates the live character and the fact that you can simply let it run on the side without having to think about the next programme element,” said Sophie Pastowski, media expert and Director at Deloitte, analysing the results.
At the same time, the consumer perspective on the video-on-demand market is showing the first signs of saturation. 64% of the surveyed consumers now have at least one paid subscription – the same number as in the previous year (see chart). In households with subscriptions, the average number of subscriptions has risen moderately from 2.2 to 2.5.
Provider hopping can also be observed: Subscriptions are only taken out temporarily, for example to watch a particular series. Once the season is over, the subscription is cancelled. Almost one in ten people stated that they had both signed up for and cancelled a subscription in the past year (9.5%).
“The enormous growth that video-on-demand services experienced during the Corona period has now levelled off. But even though user numbers have reached a plateau, interest in the content is by no means waning: almost one in two people are streaming more than they were twelve months ago,” said Pastowski. “The competition for the TV and video audience’s screen time and budgets will become even more intense in the future,” she expects.
Whether football, Formula 1 or tennis, live coverage of major sporting events is very popular with TV audiences. However, the viewer success is accompanied by enormous investments, as the acquisition of broadcasting rights is highly competitive and correspondingly expensive. This makes it all the more important to be able to monetise this content.
German media users are open to this. Six out of ten respondents are prepared in principle to pay for live sports subscriptions (59%), but only within a moderate price range: Less than 15% of respondents would spend more than €30 per month in total on sports subscriptions.
