German internet media consumption declines as COVID effect fades

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Use of the internet to stream media has declined in Germany since a peak during the COVID-19 crisis, according to the latest joint study by public broadcasters ARD and ZDF.

According to the pair’s study, the number of minutes used for media consumption on the internet declined by 21 minutes a day from a peak in 2022, down to 139 minutes a day this year.

The daily reach of media use on the internet fell by seven percentage pints to 65% over the same period.

However, overall consumption remains strong. Some 82% of 14-29 year-olds watch videos on an average day, while that proportion falls to 65% among 30-49 year-olds.

While the decline in internet media consumption was seen across all age groups, the study found that younger people still spend over four hours a day consuming media on the web, while those over 70 only consume media for around half an hour.

Some 22% of Germans watch on-demand content from ARD at least once a week, while the comparable figure for ZDF is 21%.

Netflix and Amazon Prime Video continue to lead the streaming market. Some 36% of people use Netflix at least once a week, compared with 26% using Amazon Prime Video once a week.

Disney+ is meanwhile used by 13% once a week, while pay TV operator Sky’s digital offerings are used by 11%.

ZDF planning chief Florian Kumb said that competition between digital media providers was becoming tougher, but noted that ARD and ZDF’s media libraries were now used by more than half of Germans.