Online TV remains a supplement

However, the results of the survey also make it clear that online TV remains a supplement to traditional television, which is appreciated by consumers: Habitualization tendencies in the sense of daily use are hardly noticeable.

ARD and ZDF have been systematically examining Internet use in Germany for more than 15 years with the online study series. According to the latest edition of the study, at least occasional internet use in the neighboring country has risen slightly by 2% to 79% compared to the previous year. Every day, 58% of people aged 14 and over are online (2013: 57%). On average, an internet user is online 5.9 days a week and spends 166 minutes a day online.

What is the situation regarding the use of video content on the internet? If we look at the at least occasional use of video content, it becomes clear that video content is generally very popular. 75% of internet users watch video content online at least occasionally. Compared to 2013, this figure has risen slightly by 1%. Specifically, 35% of internet users at least occasionally watch time-shifted TV programs online (-1%), while 25% watch TV programs live online at least occasionally (-1%). 64%, i.e. almost every second online user, uses video portals such as YouTube (+4%). So have videos and especially TV content on the internet become part of consumers' everyday lives?
 
Probably only in part. A look at weekly usage already gives an idea of this. Overall, 45% of online users watch video content on the internet every week (+2%). Video portals are used by almost one in three internet users every week (34%, +2%). However, only 14% (+1%) use the option of watching time-shifted television programs via the Internet within a week and only 8% watch television programs live on the Internet every week (constant).

A genuine habitualization in the sense of daily use is certainly not discernible. As before, only 14% of online users watch video content on the internet every day. The daily reach of YouTube & Co. is only 10%, that of media libraries and TV live streams 1% each.

Overall, online TV therefore remains a useful addition to traditional television. But does this also apply to the particularly video-savvy target group of 14 to 29-year-olds? Among them, 79% use one of the many forms of moving images online within a week. It is therefore not surprising that the weekly use of online TV - 26% of 14 to 29-year-olds watch time-shifted TV at least once a week and 13% watch live TV online once a week or more - is also higher than the average.

However, there is no real habitualization of online TV among young people either: A total of 53% of 14 to 29-year-olds watch TV every day, but only 2% of them use live TV streams or media libraries every day. 85% of the total video viewing time of 14 to 29-year-olds is therefore accounted for by traditional TV on the TV set, while around 5% is spent watching online TV and 10% with other online videos on YouTube & Co.
 
Clemens Koob

Key facts

- Video content on the internet is popular: 75% of online users use it at least occasionally (+1% compared to 2013), 45% weekly (+2%).
- 35% watch time-shifted television on the internet at least occasionally and 14% at least weekly. 25% watch TV live on the internet at least occasionally and 8% weekly.  However, there is no evidence of any real habitualization of online TV: only 1% of online users use the internet daily to watch time-shifted or live TV.
- Online TV therefore remains a supplement to traditional TV.
- This also applies to 14-29 year olds with an affinity for video: although they use online TV more often than average on a weekly basis (time-shifted: 26%, live: 13%), their daily usage is only 2% each.