Germany

[DE] VAUNET publishes 2022 media usage analysis

IRIS 2023-4:1/17

Christina Etteldorf

Institute of European Media Law

On 15 February 2023, the Verband Privater Medien (German Association of Private Media – VAUNET), the umbrella organisation of audio and audiovisual media companies in Germany, published its annual report on media consumption for 2022. The report shows that, although the use of audio and audiovisual media accounted for a slightly lower proportion of the total media time budget, of users aged 14 and over in Germany, than the previous year’s record level, it remained very high at almost 90%. Average daily usage of such content was 9 hours and 43 minutes in 2022. Daily video consumption totalled 5 hours 26 minutes, of which 3  hours 33 minutes was spent watching television.

Daily video consumption among German viewers aged 14 and over grew strongly during 2020 and 2021, when pandemic-related restrictions were at their tightest. It dropped slightly in 2022 (by around 30 minutes on average), but still remained higher than in 2019 (by around 16 minutes on average). Television consumption fell in particular, while usage of online videos (free and paid video-on-demand) also dropped slightly. Germans watched an average of 3 hours 33 minutes of television per day (2021: 3 hours 52 minutes), viewed online videos for 1 hour 9 minutes per day (2021: 1 hour 12 minutes), played video games for 40 minutes per day (2021: 45 minutes), watched DVDs/Blu-rays for 4 minutes (same as 2021) and spent less than 1 minute in cinemas per day (same as 2021). Television therefore remains the most popular medium for video consumption among over-14s. In the past three decades, television’s average daily reach has varied between 67% and 76% of the German population. After a pandemic-related increase, the daily reach figure for 2022 fell to 67.2%. Intensity of usage varies according to age and is consistently high among those in their 20s. Children in Germany aged between 3 and 13 only watched television for 37 minutes per day on average. The audience share of private (49.7%) and public broadcasters (50.3%) was virtually split down the middle. The most popular channels for the 14 to 49 age group were private channels RTL (9.9%) and ProSieben (8.2%) and public channels ARD Das Erste (8.0%) and ZDF (7.3%). However, the list was different among female viewers in this age category (RTL, ARD Das Erste, VOX, SAT.1). Children, on the other hand, mainly watched channels aimed at younger viewers, such as KiKa, SUPER RTL and the Disney Channel.

Audio usage in Germany was at a very similar level, averaging 4 hours 17 minutes per day and mainly comprising radio (3 hours 6 minutes) and music streaming (53 minutes).

VAUNET’s media usage analysis is based on the ongoing evaluation of different third-party sources, including data provided by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Media-Analyse (Media Analysis Working Group – agma), Verbrauchs- und Medienanalyse (Consumption and Media Analysis – VuMA), the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Videoforschung (Video Research Working Group – AGF) and the Media Activity Guide (MAG) published by SevenOne Media and forsa. Since cross-media information on the duration of daily media usage is gathered from a variety of sources, the figures should be regarded as approximate values. Data on SmartTV and HbbTV usage is not included because there is no cross-market usage data available.