TV Streaming Report 2022
Germany
How has the TV viewing behavior of German Internet users developed in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic? What changes have there been in the use of TV services on the Internet? Streaming TV provider Zattoo sheds light on these and other questions in this year's 2022 Streaming TV Report. The results for Germany show that the Internet is the most-used TV viewing channel for the first time and that the use of live TV will continue to increase in 2022.
Method
The report is based on an online representative survey conducted by the market research company Kantar on behalf of Zattoo which involved 1,000 German internet users between the ages of 16 and 69 in an online panel at the beginning of 2022. Kantar and Zattoo have been conducting this survey in Germany every year since 2015.
The report helps to identify current developments in Internet and TV usage, as well as in the area of TV streaming. The report is Zattoo's contribution to the discussion about the importance of TV streaming.
For the first time, the Internet is the most used TV reception method
In terms of TV reception methods, the trend of the last few years is continuing. Forty percent of Internet users in Germany now use the Internet exclusively or in addition to another TV reception channel to watch television. This includes both IPTV services and TV streaming apps. This is four percentage points more than in the previous year. This means that for the first time, the Internet is the most widely used TV viewing method in Germany. Previously, the most widely used method was cable, which at 38 percent was down three percentage points from the previous year. Reception via satellite is also down one percentage point to 39 percent. The use of DVB-T gained one percentage point this year, and is now 9 percent.
Use and advantages of TV streaming
In the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the daily TV usage decreases, while the time spent watching TV remains at the same level. Meanwhile, TV streaming services on the internet are being increasingly used. The biggest advantage of TV streaming remains the ability to watch TV content time-shifted.
Live TV use on the internet continues to rise in 2022
Among video and TV services, 31 percent of users online watched live TV via the Internet during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is six percentage points more than in the previous year and eleven percentage points more than in 2020. This means that live TV has never been watched more frequently via the Internet than in 2022.
The broadcasters' media libraries are used by 49 percent of the online users in Germany and thus lose one percentage point compared to the previous year. Among media library users, the most-used platforms are ARD (79 percent) and ZDF (77 percent), which have seen further growth compared to the previous year.
Video-on-demand only increased slightly this year, from 32 percent in 2021 to 34 percent. The clear winner among the providers is Disney+, which grew by another eight percentage points and is now used by 39 percent of video-on-demand users.
More than half can imagine using TV exclusively via the Internet
More and more people are using the Internet as a TV reception method. And the use of live TV via the Internet also continues to rise. This development is also reflected in the question of whether German Internet users can imagine using TV services exclusively via the Internet in the future. More than half (52 percent) say they can (absolutely) imagine doing so. This is five percentage points more than in the previous year, which underlines the trend in recent years towards more TV streaming usage. At the same time, the number of those who can't imagine doing so has continued to fall compared to 2021 and is now only 17 percent, compared to 23 percent in the previous year. The number of people who use TV services exclusively via the Internet has not changed. This figure remains at four percent.
Two out of three TV streaming users are watching on smart TVs
79 percent of internet users who watch TV at least once a week are already using TV streaming services. When asked which devices they use most for TV streaming, smart TVs came out on top this year, landing in first place. Smart TVs have already been the most-used devices for TV streaming services since 2020 and this trend continues in 2022. Two out of three TV streaming users (64 percent) are already watching on smart TVs. This is eight percentage points more than in the previous year. Streaming devices that connect the TV to the Internet also grew by three percentage points, reaching 22 percent this year. Laptops and PCs remain in second place after smart TVs at 43 percent and smartphones at 28 percent, even though both device categories lost four percentage points compared to 2021.
TV Streaming Reports 2022
Results for Switzerland and Austria
