Germany

[DE] German Film Board publishes 2022 home video market report

IRIS 2023-6:1/19

Katharina Kollmann

Institute of European Media Law

According to a report on the financial results of the home video market, published by the German Filmförderungsanstalt (Federal Film Board – FFA), over EUR 3.8 billion was spent on cinema tickets and the purchase, rental or streaming of films in Germany in 2022. Combined spending on home video and cinema tickets was the highest since market data collection began. At just over EUR 3.1 billion, consumer spending on the different home video products alone also set a new record high and exceeded EUR 3 billion for the first time. Based on market research and statistics gathered by the FFA, in partnership with Germany’s largest market research company, GfK, the report forms part of a project that has been analysing the development of the German home video market since 2000.

Founded in 1968, the FFA is a federal institution incorporated under public law. It acts on the basis of the German Filmförderungsgesetz (Film Support Act – FFG) and is Germany’s national film funding institution, funded through the so-called film levy that is paid by cinemas, the video industry and television companies. One of its tasks is to regularly collate, analyse and publish the most important market data of the film, cinema and video industries in Germany.

The latest home video market report shows that the home video market, including Subscription Video-on-Demand (SVoD) and video rental and sales, grew by 7% in 2022 compared with the previous year. In total, almost 40% of the German population bought, rented or streamed at least one film or series in 2022.

The proportion of spending on digital versions, as opposed to physical data carriers, rose to 89% in 2022. In 2009, the equivalent figure was only 1%. In absolute numbers, turnover in the digital video sector totalled EUR 2.76 billion, compared with EUR 2.48 billion in 2021.

The sector that recorded the highest growth was the SVoD market, i.e. streaming platforms, including giants such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney +, as well as niche providers such as Arthouse CNMA and Netzkino. Spending on these services totalled EUR 2.33 billion, representing 75% of the home video market. The previous year’s figure was EUR 2.07 billion. The SVoD sector therefore grew by 12% compared with 2021 and held a slightly greater share of the home video market.

The sharpest decline, on the other hand, was in the sale of physical data carriers such as DVD and Blu-ray. Here, the proportion of spending was 15% lower than the previous year and fell to 11% (EUR 339 million). DVD sales dropped more markedly than Blu-ray.

There was greater stability in the electronic sell-through (EST) sector, which achieved a 14% share of the home video market in combination with the growing Transactional-Video-on-Demand (TVoD) sector. Turnover for these sectors totalled EUR 431 million.