Video consumption in Germany continued to fragment in 2025, with streaming viewing rising by 21% year on year, while linear television remained the dominant destination for live, news-led and event programming.
The findings come from the annual TV and video review published by AGF Videoforschung, Germany’s national audience measurement body.
A key milestone for measurement was reached in November 2025, when Amazon Prime Video was integrated into AGF’s certified system via a server-to-server connection. Since then, Prime Video’s ad-funded VOD titles have been reported at content level alongside broadcasters’ offers, marking the first time a global streamer has been actively measured in this way by AGF.
Despite falling viewing times, linear television retained its relevance in 2025, particularly for content with immediacy and social relevance. On average, 55.5% of people aged three and over, or 43.8 million viewers, tuned into linear TV each day. Average daily viewing across the total audience declined to 158 minutes, down 7.7% year on year, while viewing among 14- to 49-year-olds fell to 67 minutes (2024: 79 minutes.
According to AGF, the decline reflects a more dynamic and fragmented media market, with audiences spreading their time across streaming services, social platforms such as TikTok and gaming, as well as changing access routes via apps on the big screen. Even so, long-established formats continued to deliver scale.
“Despite this dynamic development, 2025 also shows that linear television still delivers high reach where content is current, provides orientation, and has an event-like character,” said Kerstin Niederauer-Kopf, CEO of AGF Videoforschung. She added that integrating international platforms and expanding hybrid measurement is essential to providing the market with a consistent and comparable view of total video performance.
News and information formats accounted for around 36% of total linear TV usage in 2025, slightly above previous years, driven by major political and social events. Although 2025 lacked a men’s football World Cup or Olympics, live sport still dominated the annual rankings. The most-watched programme of the year was the Women’s Euro 2025 match Germany vs Spain on ARD, with 14.6 million viewers and a 57% audience market share, rising to 68.2% among 14- to 49-year-olds.
Across total video usage, average daily streaming time rose from six to eight minutes per person. While this increase did not fully offset losses in linear viewing, AGF said it reflects both a shift towards time-shifted consumption and the expansion of measurement to additional services.
In terms of total annual streaming volume, public broadcasters ARD and ZDF led the market among all viewers, followed by commercial market players RTL Deutschland and ProSiebenSat.1’s Joyn platform. Amazon Prime Video, measured only from November, already ranked fifth. Among 14- to 49-year-olds, RTL Deutschland took the top spot by streaming volume, ahead of ARD and ZDF.
According to AGF, the 2025 data underline a simple conclusion: while viewing habits continue to diversify, linear television remains the key reference point for live, trusted and shared viewing moments, even as streaming steadily expands its role in the overall video ecosystem.
