Half of Germans now taking pay TV and streaming services

Over half of German consumers now pay an average of over €30 a month for pay TV and streaming services, according to a study by price comparison site Verivox.

According to Verivox’s study, 52% of Germans now watch pay TV and streaming content, spending an average of €31 for the privilege, over and above the licence fee paid for public television and radio and the cost of a basic cable connection. A smaller group numbering around 11% pay between €51 and €100 while 34% spend between €10 and €30. Only a tiny minority in any age group paid more than €100 a month for media content.

According to the study, there remains a group of about 35% of consumers who rely wholly on free services for TV consumption.

Younger viewers are on the whole more willing to pay than the average. Some 80% of people under 30 are paying something for media, but a majority – 55% – of those under 50 also pay something for media.

Verivox found no significant differences between men and women in willingness to pay for content.

According to Verivox, there is a significant divide between different regions of Germany in terms of willingness to pay for content. Germans who live in the northern Federal states are most willing to pay for content, with 72% of streaming users paying for content. In eastern Germany, only 55% pay for content.

Southern and western German states fell somewhere between the two poles. In the southern states, 66% were willing to pay for content, while 67% of people in the western states were willing to pay.

Verivox commissioned Innofact AG to carry out a study of 1,001 consumers online in May.