Frankfurt, 21/09/2023. In 67 percent of German households, TV setsare connected to the Internet either by way of a smart TV or a normal TV with additional devices like streaming boxes or streaming sticks.
Moreover, the online use of smart TVs has been rising steadily. According to the results of AGF’s latest Platform Study, 59.5 percent of respondents (representative of the German-speaking population aged 14 and older in TV households) stated that they have been online with a smart TV at least once in the last four weeks. This is 7.5 percentage points higher than in the Spring Wave of the preceding year (52.0%). Only smartphones (84.5%) and PCs/laptops (72.3%) were named more frequently in response to this question about device-specific online use in the last four weeks.
TV sets are clearly preferred for the use of online videos: Nearly 74 percent of respondents consumed the online content of TV broadcasters on smart TVs, followed by PCs and laptops at 24.6 percent. Users also prefer TV sets for SVOD services: 85.5 percent for Disney+, 83.0 percent for Netflix, and 80.8 percent for Prime Video. On the other hand, respondents still prefer smartphones for watching usually smaller video clips on YouTube and on news portals like Spiegel.de and Bild.de.
Streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ are widely favored by members of the young demographic: 88.4 percent of respondents aged 14 to 29 indicated that they used independent streaming platforms in the last four weeks, while almost 55 percent used them on a daily basis. But the results of the latest survey also attest the growing popularity of streaming services among members of the middle age groups of 30-to-64 year-olds: 89.2 percent of 30-to-49 year-olds (up 5.8 percentage points from the preceding wave) and 69 percent of 50-to-64 year-olds (up 4.2 percentage points) watched the video content of SVOD providers in the last four weeks.
These two age groups, which comprise not only Gen X, but also parts of Gen Y and baby boomers, also reported the highest use of the online content of TV broadcasters: 42.2 percent of 30-to-49 year-olds and 48.5 percent of 50-to-64 year-olds watched online content on VOD services, TV broadcaster websites, or TV broadcaster apps in the last four weeks. The overall use of TV broadcasters’ streaming services has continued to rise, nearly catching up with Netflix (37.9% vs. 38.5%) and well ahead of Prime Video (28.4%). Nearly one third of respondents now stream video content from public TV broadcasters alone.
“More and more people are taking advantage of the wide range of possibilities afforded by their smart TVs, including linear free TV, pay TV, and the programs of the different streaming platforms, along with the option of obtaining additional information by pressing the red button. The number of people watching video content on TV sets remains high, which is good news for all the providers,” says Kerstin Niederauer-Kopf, CEO of AGF Videoforschung.
The equipment and reception numbers are little changed. The average number of TV sets per household is still 1.4. HD programming can be received in 85.0 percent of households and the percentage of households with ultra-HD TVs is almost one third (31.1%).
Methodology
For the Platform Study, which has been conducted on behalf of AGF Videoforschung since 2011, the market research institute Kantar surveys around 2,500 respondents from the German-speaking population aged 14 and older in TV households, in two waves per year. The survey is carried out in the respondents’ homes. The responses to detailed questions concerning sociodemographic background, online and streaming use, TV equipment and receivable programs are validated by an inspection of the type of TV equipment used in the household and the programs that can actually be received. The representative study delivers up-to-date specifications about the potential and distribution of households with a platform and therefore serves as an external specification for structural panel control and for the weighting and extrapolation of platform households. It also provides information about Video-on-Demand use, especially on those services that are not tracked by AGF. The results of the Platform Study are also a key component of AGF’s external specification.