The transformation of the television market is progressing steadily: Internet TV is establishing itself alongside traditional reception channels and turning the TV set into an active, multimedia hub in the living room. This is confirmed by the results of the ninth Advanced TV Study conducted by Azerion Austria and Goldvertise Media. For the current survey, 2,500 people between the ages of 16 and 69 in Austria and Germany were questioned in January 2026.

The analysis clearly shows that CTV has finally arrived at the center of everyday digital media life. In addition to the established market parameters, this year's survey also highlights new focal points: the mobile use of advanced TV offerings, second-screen behavior and shared use with children. Another focus is on the detailed perception of advertising and its impact within CTV offerings. The current edition thus provides a comprehensive database on access, awareness, use and advertising impact on CTV.

Usage time reaches linear TV level

A detailed look at the German data illustrates the market dynamics: at 94%, almost all TV households own at least one internet-enabled TV set. Smart TV remains the main access point at 68%, while mobile devices are gaining in importance with 24% of CTV usage. While the proportion of respondents who are aware of and use CTV services remains constant at a high level, usage time continues to increase and is now on a par with linear TV usage: at 2:32 hours versus 2:34 hours, users spend the same amount of time on linear TV and connected TV. There are differences here in the age groups: While 16- to 49-year-olds are already streaming for longer, 50- to 69-year-olds are spending longer on linear TV.

Target group and household-specific usage behavior

The use of CTV is strongly dependent on target groups and households. Households with children have the highest usage, while preferences differ significantly according to demographics and household type. Differences can be seen both in the number of apps used and in the preferred content genres. The use of CTV is more active, more conscious and more curated due to the large number of different apps and additional functions. The large selection of content is the most important usage driver with 85% approval, followed by time independence with 83%.

CTV is also clearly a shared medium. On average, 2.2 people sit together in front of the screen when using the additional functions. 90% of respondents use the additional functions at least occasionally together with children under the age of 16. At the same time, users' willingness to pay is increasing compared to the previous year. While more free apps were used in 2025, paid apps have now come to the fore with an average of 2.9 apps. The main drivers here are also 16 to 29-year-olds, large households with an average of 3.4 apps and households with children with an average of 3.3 apps, who can choose from an even greater variety of content as a result of this development.

Advertising on CTV is becoming increasingly effective

The perception, acceptance and relevance of advertising in the CTV environment are increasing among consumers: Two thirds of respondents have noticed advertising, almost half find advertising useful (53%) and helpful (48%) and 41% of respondents remember the advertising they have seen well. For a third of users, advertising on CTV even leads to a product purchase.

Overall, the results of the Advanced TV Study 2026 show that the increasing individualization of usage creates higher-quality advertising environments with greater attention and relevance. For advertisers, this means more precise targeting and measurably better impact.

The most important results of the study can be found on the Goldvertise www.goldvertise.com/ctv-studie download

About the study

Azerion Austria and Goldvertise Media are continuing the Advanced TV study series for Austria and Germany launched by the Goldbach Group in 2017. This year, 2,500 people (1,500 from Germany and 1,000 from Austria) aged between 16 and 69 took part in the study. They were surveyed online on the topics of «Awareness, type and use of connected TV», «Ownership of internet-enabled TV sets», «App use on internet-enabled TV sets» and «Perception and assessment of advertising in the area of additional functions on connected TV». The survey took place in January 2026.

With the newly created Publicis Media Content & Innovation (PMCI) unit, Publicis Media Germany is focusing on connecting media, commerce, customer experience and data. The investment in the DACH region follows the Publicis Groupe's "Connected Media" strategy announced at the end of 2025.

PMCI bundles products and consulting expertise that enrich reach with emotions and thus make it more effective. The unit is headed by PMCI Managing Director Björn Klaas, who has been with Publicis for 15 years and most recently headed Spark Foundry.

Three areas plus sport

In total, over 65 employees work in the three areas of PMCI. The Branded Experiences and Digital Solutions units have been implementing eye-catching advertising formats and concepts for Publicis clients for years.

The influencer marketing and gaming branch will be newly established. This includes the influencer activation offering from the influencer marketing platform Influential, which was acquired by Publicis in summer 2024. New addition Dennis Wegner leads this team as Managing Partner. He is a proven social media strategist and comes from WPP Media, where he was most recently responsible for the cross-agency social media and influencer offering.

A fourth pillar is already under construction. This involves the connection between sport, influencer marketing and media. This area complements the work of Holger Hansen, who is driving forward Sport & Entertainment at Group level in DACH.

Emotions instead of impressions

Björn Klaas emphasizes the strategic orientation: "Stop counting impressions - make impressions count. That has always been my mantra and it is more relevant than ever. Media consumption is six and a half hours a day, but the attention for an advertising message sometimes lasts just 1.3 seconds. Today and in the future, simply having favorable contacts or a pure focus on reach is no longer enough to positively anchor a brand with consumers."

For communication to make a difference, brand experiences, emotions and relevance must be created. "Emotions as a basis with activation via media is the core of PMCI. All our products and consulting services are based on this," continues Klaas. In addition to innovative brand integrations and specially created special ads, the development of the influencer unit and the sports area play a particularly important role.

The PMCI approach is seamlessly integrated into the services offered by Publicis' sister agencies. This is particularly evident in the area of earned and shared media with "echo by MSL" through the specially developed 5C system: culture, community, connection, creators and content become a lever for relevance and cultural impact, strategically embedded in Connected Media.

Power of One

Karin Ross, Chief Operating Officer Publicis Groupe DACH and CEO Publicis Connected Media, explains: "In PMCI, we are bundling our media, data and influencer competencies within Publicis Media and ensuring connectivity to the capabilities of our sister agencies within Publicis Groupe for all clients. We have been working together for years in the spirit of The Power of One and are now creating a joint offering in the spirit of Connected Media."

The successor to Björn Klaas at Spark Foundry has already been appointed and will be announced shortly.

Saeuberlich expands the DACH management team, consisting of Bettina Prange (Chief Talent Officer), Karin Ross (Chief Operating Officer & CEO Publicis Connected Media), Philippe Bordet (Chief Financial Officer), Arne Brekenfeld (Chief Strategy Officer), Dennis May (Chief Creative Officer & Chief Creative Officer Leo EMEA) and Christoph Pietsch (Chief Growth Officer) and reports to Demet Ikiler (Publicis EMEA CEO).

Focus on the Power of One model

"Ulrich is an outstanding leader with a deep understanding of our customers' requirements. He will play a key role in enabling us to offer them even faster and more comprehensive customized solutions so that their business can develop successfully," comments EMEA CEO Demet Ikiler.

"Publicis Groupe has created something truly unique with its Power of One model. I am delighted to become part of the team in the DACH region and look forward to shaping sustainable growth together with our outstanding colleagues and clients," says Saeuberlich.

Experienced manager with international expertise

The experienced manager Saeuberlich began his career at L'Oréal, where he worked in various marketing and brand functions in Germany and the USA and was responsible for the development and launch of the Group's products. He worked at various digital and integrated marketing agencies in New York and later spent six years as Managing Director at AKQA Germany. Subsequently, he was initially CEO of MRM Germany and most recently, since 2024, in the role of President MRM Europe and UK, responsible at European level.

Publicis Groupe DACH is creating a new management position for Karin Ross. The former Chief Media Officer Publicis Groupe DACH and CEO Publicis Media has been given the title of Chief Operating Officer Publicis Groupe DACH & CEO Publicis Connected Media DACH with immediate effect.

Together with Publicis Media management, Ross had accelerated the growth of Publicis Groupe's media agencies and expanded the client business since the beginning of 2025. According to Comvergence, Publicis Media leads the new business ranking under her leadership.

Responsibility for strategic development

In her position as COO, Ross will work with Demet Ikiler, CEO Publicis Groupe EMEA, and the existing DACH Groupe Board to further develop the strategy in the region. Her focus is on creating greater added value for customers through transformation and innovation and driving the Group's growth.

Ross is responsible for linking the various Publicis Groupe offerings such as media, creation, CRM, commerce and production even more closely together in line with "The Power of One" and customer needs. In particular, the integration of Connected Identity, Publicis Groupe's data-driven marketing and technology approach, into the Group's offering in the DACH market is to be driven forward.

Expansion of the media business

As CEO Publicis Connected Media DACH, Ross will continue to lead the growing media business. The linking of media, commerce, CRM and influencer marketing is to be strengthened and expanded into a more comprehensive, consistent customer offering.

"The DACH region is a strategically important market for Publicis Groupe in Europe, where we have a strong and well-established position. Karin Ross is the right leader to drive change, growth and efficiency as part of our strategy to further roll out Publicis Connected Media across the market," says Demet Ikiler.

Karin Ross comments: "Thanks to our practiced Power-of-One approach, we continue to convince existing and new customers to choose and confirm us as their transformation partner. Connected Identity helps us to identify and understand our customers' target groups even better. I look forward to using this expertise together with my fellow Board members, our strong agencies and teams to drive the success of our clients in Publicis Groupe DACH."

Havas Market is repositioning itself in Germany: The performance, search and commerce specialists from Eprofessional and Havas Market are being merged into a single unit to form the new home for performance-first clients and end-to-end commerce growth. Under the leadership of CEO Henner Uekermann, the new Havas Market Germany is being created at the Hamburg location with access to the full expertise of Havas Media in Frankfurt and the global Havas Market network.

Havas Market is thus positioning itself as a performance-first agency that thinks and implements commerce growth end-to-end: from data and platform strategy, activation and retail media to measurement, reporting, attribution and technological development. Havas Market does not create solutions in channels, but builds integrated systems for its clients that scale growth.

Integrated performance and commerce organization

"Havas Market in Germany is now more than just a name - we are building an integrated performance and commerce organization that delivers measurable impact while thinking ahead strategically," says Henner Uekermann, CEO Havas Market Germany. "Nothing will change for our clients operationally, but a lot will change in terms of collaboration: they will gain access to a much broader setup and a team that thinks in terms of commerce right from the start. Our offer is aimed at companies for whom performance is the central KPI system and who want to create a growth architecture for their brands. This ranges from owner-managed SMEs to international brands with a clear commerce and growth perspective."

From special setup to integrated growth unit

Two specialist set-ups are being transformed into an integrated unit: Eprofessional and Havas Market are combining their strengths to form a joint team that organizes performance not in channels, but along the entire customer and commerce journey. Eprofessional will contribute its in-depth search and performance expertise and evolve from a channel-driven setup to a holistic performance-first agency. At the same time, Havas Market in Germany will become a clearly positioned, scalable organization and expand its previous focus on e-retail and Amazon to end-to-end commerce growth.

The basis for this is a common database, clean measurement and modern attribution - so that not only measures are optimized, but a resilient growth architecture is built that makes the effect transparent and can be controlled in a scalable manner.

Response to increasing complexity

Many organizations continue to work in channel logic: Media is often evaluated via reach, performance via KPIs and data often does not connect the two cleanly enough. At the same time, complexity is growing due to new platforms, retail opportunities, AI-based search environments and fragmented customer journeys. This is where Havas Market comes in: with an integrated approach that dovetails media, content, data and performance and not only plans campaigns, but also builds and scales growth architectures.

Hamburg as a hub with a global network

The Hamburg location will become the center of Havas Market Germany. At the same time, the new unit will work closely with the teams and expertise of Havas Media in Frankfurt - supplemented by best practices, tools and expertise from the international Havas Market network.

Havas Market Germany will expand its thought leadership in the following areas, among others: Social Search, LLM/KI and GEO, Data & Attribution, Retail Media/E-Retail, Reselling Models as well as Commerce and Cloud topics.

Ambition: Top 3 performance-first agency in Germany

Havas Market Germany has a clear growth ambition: over the next three years, the unit aims to become one of the top 3 performance-first agencies in Germany and grow to around 200 employees.

Havas Media Network combines human creativity with machine intelligence to create sustainable growth for brands. The network helps companies stay relevant and grow successfully in a world of constant change. Havas Media Germany is one of the leading media agencies in Germany and works for national and international clients with over 700 employees in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Düsseldorf.

More information: https://havasmedia.de

The communications agency Flad & Flad has been awarded the contract for the "Star Truck" as part of the "Join MINT - More Innovation Needs Talents" initiative. The company is responsible for the conception, realization and operation of the mobile educational offer, which aims to counteract the shortage of skilled workers in the STEM sector.

"With Join MINT, we are pursuing the goal of actively countering the shortage of skilled workers, sustainably strengthening STEM skills and thus securing Upper Austria as a location for business, employment and innovation in the long term," says Iris Schmidt, Chairwoman of the Upperverse of Skills and Managing Director of AMS Upper Austria. The project is supported by the Public Employment Service Upper Austria, the province of Upper Austria and partners from business, science, research and educational institutions.

Mobile laboratory on two levels

The Star Truck is designed as a two-storey, interactive world of experience and tours Upper Austria around 200 days a year. It mainly stops off at schools, but also at trade fairs and companies. On the first floor, young people get to know various key technologies and solve tasks with a practical professional relevance. The technologies represent important pillars of Upper Austria as a location for innovation - from robotics and automation, green steel and sustainable production to artificial intelligence, networked systems and medical technology.

The young people are virtually accompanied on their task course by the avatar Nova. She is completely AI-generated and acts as an ambassador from the technology universe. Nova is also present in the learning software, which structures and interactively supports the process. On the upper floor, pupils deepen their knowledge and take part in innovation workshops on topics such as coding, data science and design thinking. There are also additional teaching materials, workshops and training courses for teachers.

Many years of experience in STEM education

"Flad & Flad has many years of experience in the development and implementation of successful STEM initiatives - especially in cooperation with ministries and institutional partners," says Schmidt, explaining the choice of partner. Simone Schiebold, Managing Partner of Flad & Flad, adds: "The Star Truck will certainly become a new beacon for modern STEM education. The project incorporates our experience from almost 20 years of STEM education, combined with the latest findings in educational pedagogy and using the latest media technologies."

Flad & Flad is setting up a branch office in Linz to provide strategic, conceptual and personnel support for the project until the end of 2030. The agency also intends to further expand its business in Austria. "I am delighted that, after Baden-Württemberg and Hesse, we will now also be supporting another STEM initiative with a strong regional focus in Upper Austria with the Star Truck," says Schiebold.

Publicis Groupe Germany, one of the largest communications service providers in Germany, and The Ambition, one of the pioneers of culture marketing, have entered into a strategic partnership. The aim of the collaboration is to create a joint culture marketing service offering for national and international brands.

Culture marketing as a growth driver

Culture marketing is becoming increasingly important as cultural trends spread rapidly via digital channels. Brands that recognize these trends early can communicate more relevantly and build authentic connections with their target groups. The partnership will see both partners contribute their expertise, approaches and experience to respond to the needs of brands and businesses.

Christoph Pietsch, Chief Growth Officer Publicis Groupe DACH, explains: "You could say 'we are late to the party'. Or that we have taken a very close look at the market and its developments in order to develop our response to needs. Culture marketing is multifaceted. It's about hot areas such as music, sport, fashion and other territories with high identification potential." With The Ambition, a model has been developed that offers the necessary flexibility to combine the existing competencies of the agencies in the "Power of One" network and the expertise of The Ambition to create an "end-2-end culture offering" - from brand strategy and communication to media or PR.

Culture as a unifying element

Phillip Böndel, CEO of The Ambition, adds: "Culture is what connects people - across milieus, origins and generations. In Publicis, we have a partner who understands the power of culture as well as its complexity. Together, we are creating structures that do not capture culture, but reinforce it - and establish culture marketing as a genuine growth driver. This benefits brands, people and culture itself."

The Ambition is an award-winning culture marketing consultancy based in Düsseldorf and Berlin. Founded in 2021, the company advises and supports leading brands such as O₂, Cupra, Coty, Pepsi and Spotify in developing cultural relevance and connectivity. Its services range from generating cultural insights and strategic consulting to the conception and implementation of campaigns and collaborations at the interface of music, sport, fashion and entertainment.

The self-marketing of communication agencies is becoming noticeably more professional. This is shown by a recent survey of members of the Forum Agenturvermarktung (until the end of 2025: Netzwerk Eigenkommunikation) in the GWA Gesamtverband führender Kommunikationsagenturen. According to the survey, 92% of the agencies surveyed plan to employ the same number of people or more in communications and marketing in 2026. At the same time, the requirements for visibility, lead generation and measurable success are growing.

The online survey was conducted in October 2025 and answered by 54 managers from GWA agencies. According to the survey, the central goals of agency marketing are lead generation and new customer acquisition. Everyday work is strongly characterized by customer contact, direct approach and the conversion of contacts into concrete business inquiries.

LinkedIn remains the most important channel

Respondents named LinkedIn as the most important channel for self-marketing, followed by events and specialist publications. LinkedIn and events also play a central role in lead generation. At the same time, agency marketers see clear hurdles: Lack of time and budget are mentioned most frequently, as are falling open and response rates and increasing demands for data-based targeting.

"Agency marketing is becoming much more professional. With growing economic pressure and increasing complexity in the agency business, more and more agencies are placing a clear focus on their marketing and in-house communication," says Benjamin Werner, Head of Group Marketing at fischerAppelt and spokesperson for the GWA's Agency Marketing Forum. "This is now also an opportunity for us to not only broaden the content of the former in-house communication network, but also to reflect this development in the new name 'Forum Agenturvermarktung'."

AI fundamentally changes self-marketing

The respondents named artificial intelligence as by far the most important trend up to 2027. Agencies expect profound changes in content creation, distribution and automation in particular. According to the survey, content production will change the most as early as 2026 as a result of AI.

At the same time, content marketing continues to gain in importance: a majority of respondents assume that content marketing will play a greater role in 2026 than in the previous year. Success will be measured primarily in terms of specific business inquiries - traditional reach figures will take a back seat.

Strategically close to C-Level

The survey also shows that in-house communication and agency marketing are strategically positioned directly below C-level in most agencies. The most common job titles are New Business and Business Development, with many in-house marketers also working for external agency clients at the same time. The team sizes are predominantly two to four employees.

"Our survey shows: The area of in-house communication or agency marketing is usually directly below C-level in the agencies," says Werner. "This underlines the strategic relevance of this area - especially in an increasingly competitive market."

The results of the survey will be incorporated into the agenda of the GWA Agency Marketing Forum for 2026. The aim is to further intensify the exchange of best practices, trends and challenges and to provide targeted support to agencies in professionalizing their own marketing.

Absatzwirtschaft and the Bundesverband Marketing Clubs (BVMC) have opened the application phase for the Brand Award 2026. The award ceremony will take place on June 18, 2026. It is already the 26th edition of the award for excellent brand management.

Focus on two categories

Companies can apply in two categories. In the brand management category, the focus is on long-term, consistent and strategically successful brand management as well as the sustainable process of brand development and maintenance across all touchpoints.

New this year is the "Campaign of the Year" category. This category looks at outstanding individual marketing measures that impress with their creative excellence, strategic clarity and demonstrable activation performance.

Application possible as of now

Interested companies can now apply for the brand award. Further details and conditions of participation can be found on the Website of Absatzwirtschaft. The Brand Award is considered one of the most important awards in the industry in Germany and Austria.

Two ice hockey media are joining forces: RED+, Germany's leading streaming platform for junior and women's ice hockey, and Eisblog, the German ice hockey medium with the widest reach, are entering into a partnership. The aim of the cooperation is to give German junior and women's leagues more visibility.

Since the 2024/2025 season, RED+ has been broadcasting all games of the DEB U17, U20 DNL and the entire DFEL, Germany's top women's league - as a livestream or re-live. The platform has thus become the most important point of contact for anyone who wants to follow junior and women's ice hockey - whether it's to watch their own children play, scout talent or follow the DFEL.

Content cooperation for more reach

"RED+ brings the sport of ice hockey into German living rooms. The offer is worth its weight in gold, especially for families who want to watch their children's games. We share the vision with RED+ of giving junior and women's ice hockey the attention they deserve," explains Simon Rentel, founder of the ice blog. "Together, we can create visibility with our reach and their live broadcasts - for talents that would otherwise remain under the radar."

The core of the partnership is a content cooperation: Eisblog will regularly report on the leagues streamed on RED+. Fans will find the content in particular on the social media channels @redicehockey.de and @eisblog_.

"With its community, Eisblog reaches the target group that we want to inspire for our leagues," says Dennis Russ, Head Sports & Media Partnerships Manager Germany/Austria at RED+. "Together, we are driving ice hockey in Germany forward: more reach for the leagues, better content for the community.

RED+ is a paid streaming service that has been operating in Switzerland since August 2022 and offers sports streams via the internet. RED+ was founded in 2021 by Ringier Sports, which is a 1001TP3 subsidiary of Ringier. RED+ broadcasts the sports of football (Promotion League, 1st League Classic, 2nd League Interregional), ice hockey (My Hockey League, PostFinance Women's League and all games of all amateur teams and junior leagues) and, since summer 2024, Swiss handball (Quickline Handball League, SPAR Premium League, NLB). RED+ is also present in the ice hockey markets of Germany (U20 DNL, U17, DFEL) and Austria (ÖEHV, KEHV, SEHV, TEHC, STEHV). Access to RED+ is possible as part of a paid subscription (RED+ GAMEPASS).

Hamburg-based data specialist mediaservice wasmuth secures the future of important planning tools for the German newspaper industry. The company will take over the print planning tools ZIS and ZMG-Zeitungsatlas from the Federal Association of Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers (BDZV) in January 2026. In addition, mediaservice wasmuth will receive all usage and exploitation rights to the online booking portal OBS from the publishers' associations BDZV and MVFP.

The takeover ensures continuity for advertisers and media agencies: central tools for booking, evaluation and regional management of campaigns will not only be retained, but will also be further developed. In future, the media data provider will also prepare and supply market data for the studies of the media joint industry committees IVW and the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Mediaanalyse (agma).

"As a long-standing developer, mediaservice wasmuth knows the requirements of advertisers, agencies and publishers and will not only reliably continue OBS, ZIS and data provision, but also further develop them with innovative ideas," says Carsten Dorn, Managing Director of Score Media Group.

Matthias Wasmuth, founder and Managing Director of mediaservice wasmuth, is already planning specific further developments: "At OBS, we will soon be tackling the expansion to include digital advertising. The ZIS planning tool is already an ideal addition to our regio.planbasix program. We want to dovetail the two offerings even more closely."

The takeover takes place against the background of the planned end of operations of ZMG, the market research subsidiary of the BDZV. Mediaservice wasmuth has been a leading provider of media data in Germany for 25 years and develops solutions for the advertising and media sector.

On Thursday, the agency Aufgesang was honored with bronze in the "Focussed" category at the renowned industry award "The Best Agency" in Hamburg with its submission as "Best SEO Agency". This adds another important title to the list of awards that the company has continuously received over the years.

"The Best Agency" is considered one of the most important seals of quality in the marketing industry in German-speaking countries and is a curated award. The jury is made up exclusively of 67 marketing managers from well-known companies in the DACH region. The award is based on a two-stage selection process that includes both digital submissions and personal presentations by the shortlisted candidates.

"This award is a very special highlight for us and our fifth milestone this year as the leading SEO agency in the German-speaking world," says Olaf Kopp, Co-Founder and Head of SEO at Aufgesang.

With over 50 experts, a clear focus on AI-supported SEO strategies and an impressive track record - such as an average visibility uplift of 141 percent - Aufgesang has established itself as a leading service provider in the high-end segment and as a thought leader in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).

Founded in 1998, the agency supports brands in the DACH region in strategic online marketing. The focus is on search engine optimization (SEO), generative engine optimization (GEO) including digital PR, performance marketing and communication in Wikipedia. More than 50 experts work for around 70 clients.