TV Streaming Report 2023
Switzerland
This year, the coronavirus pandemic is slowly receding into the background. However, many consumers are faced with a tense economic situation. According to the Credit Suisse Worry Barometer, inflation is one of the five biggest concerns of Swiss people in 2022. Whether this has an impact on the television behaviour of Swiss Internet users is highlighted by the TV streaming provider Zattoo in this year's TV Streaming Report 2023. The results for Switzerland show that TV reception over the Internet leaves cable TV further behind, and inflation has a significantly smaller effect on streaming subscriptions than expected.
Method
This report is based on an online representative survey conducted by the market research company Kantar on behalf of Zattoo among 810 Swiss Internet users between the ages of 16 and 69 in an online panel at the beginning of 2023. Kantar and Zattoo have been implementing this survey annually in Switzerland since 2015.
With the help of the report, current developments in Internet and TV use, as well as in the field of TV streaming, can be identified. Zattoo wants to contribute to the discussion about the importance of TV streaming.
TV Streaming Report 2023 for Switzerland
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TV reception over the Internet continues to grow, cable loses significantly
More and more people are using the Internet as a means of receiving their television programmes. This trend will continue in 2023. Among Swiss internet users, 67% are already doing so. Internet means both IPTV offers and TV streaming apps. That is 6 percentage points more than in the previous year. Especially in German-speaking Switzerland, the Internet is gaining 10 percentage points. 69% already use this form of TV reception. This means that for the third year in a row, the Internet is leaving cable television behind and remains the most widely used TV reception channel among Swiss Internet users. This year, cable TV reception is just 35%, a further 5 percentage points down on the previous year.
Worries about high inflation have had less impact on streaming subscriptions than expected
Many experts had assumed that the uncertain economic situation would have a negative impact on household media budgets. For example, in a 2022 KPMG study from the US, around 80% of consumers with a streaming subscription stated that inflation affects their budget in general or their subscription in particular. A study conducted by Recurly in Germany in 2022 also showed that 84% of German consumers who use one or more subscription services are concerned about the effects of inflation.
The present TV streaming report concludes that in Switzerland so far around one in eight Internet users (13%) has cancelled a streaming subscription due to the economic situation. The report also shows that as a result of taking inflation into account, 11% have switched to cheaper streaming offerings and another 6% to free offerings.
Live TV still more popular than video-on-demand
42% of respondents watch live television on the Internet. This means that in 2023, after solid growth during the coronavirus pandemic, it will remain at the previous year's level for the first time. Nevertheless, live TV is one of the most popular moving image offers of Swiss Internet users. Only YouTube can attract 59% more users.
Looking at the regions, it shows that live television is used even more often in Western Switzerland (56%) than YouTube (52%). At 21%, the media libraries of the stations are also at the previous year's level, as is video-on-demand at 25%.
In the latter case, Disney+ in particular is continuing to grow significantly. 39% of video-on-demand users are already watching content from the US service, which is growing by an additional 12 percentage points. Netflix still remains in first place with 81%.
TV streaming services are being used more often on mobile devices
In 2023, the mobile use of TV streaming services will increase again. About half of the respondents (47%) use a smartphone to watch television over the Internet. That is 7 percentage points more than in 2022. Tablets are also being used more often and are rising by 4 percentage points to 31%. After strong growth in recent years, smart TVs will remain at the previous year's level in 2023. Nevertheless, at 49%, they are the most used device for TV streaming services. In contrast, laptops and PCs are losing 4 percentage points, reaching 42% this year.
TV Streaming Reports 2023
Results for Germany and Austria
