Three out of four Swiss watch Internet TV
According to a representative study commissioned by Zattoo, watching TV over the Internet is widespread in this country. Switzerland is playing a pioneering role in Europe in this regard.
The future of television lies on the Internet. Whether live TV or on-demand services, Internet TV is becoming increasingly popular. This is the conclusion of a representative online study for which the market research institute TNS Infratest surveyed 800 Swiss people aged 15 and over on behalf of the Internet TV provider Zattoo. According to the study, a good 75 percent of TV viewers watch TV via the Internet at least occasionally, and more than one in four even predominantly use Internet TV offerings. Some of them only watch TV via the Internet, a total of just under 14 percent of those surveyed.
Media libraries, apps and web services now offer viewers in Switzerland a variety of ways to watch TV content online. Youtube (56 percent) and live TV (55 percent), such as via Zattoo, are particularly popular. Almost one in three uses media libraries (32 percent), one in four online video stores (27 percent).
Whether on the sofa in front of the smart TV, with the laptop in the flat-sharing room or on the train on the tablet and smartphone - moving images available online allow flexible use, which more and more viewers appreciate. Unsurprisingly, it is primarily younger people aged 15 to 29 who watch an above-average amount of TV online. 34 percent of them say they already watch most TV content via the Internet. By contrast, 31 percent of 50-69 year olds never use Internet TV services.
"Digital natives are growing up with online TV. They consume media predominantly on Internet-enabled devices. For them, the Internet is also quite a normal distribution channel for TV content, like satellite or cable," says Jörg Meyer, Chief Officer Content & Consumer at Zattoo, "Thanks to a good infra and competitive structure, Switzerland is an absolute pioneer in Europe in the use and distribution of Internet TV."
The latter is also shown by the comparative figures from Germany. There, "only" 15 percent of respondents say they consume TV content predominantly via the Internet (Switzerland: 28 percent). In contrast, the use of YouTube is much more widespread in Germany. There, 72 percent of respondents use Google's video platform (Switzerland: 56 percent). 45 percent of respondents in Switzerland can imagine doing without a cable or satellite connection altogether in the future and watching TV content only via the Internet.
