Zattoo celebrates 20 years of TV streaming
Launched 20 years ago as a pioneer, Zattoo is now one of Europe's leading TV streaming platforms. On its anniversary, the company looks back on technological milestones and strategic development.
Zattoo celebrates its anniversary in June 2025 20th anniversary. The platform was launched in 2005 by Bea Knecht and Sugih Jamin with the aim of streaming live TV legally and accessible to everyone on the Internet. Just one year later, Zattoo had already reached over one million users - without an advertising budget. The official premiere took place in the summer of 2006 during the World Cup.
Since then, the company has played a key role in shaping the development of digital television. According to its own statements, it was a pioneer in mobile TV apps, smart TV applications, replay TV and on-demand offerings, among other things. Zattoo was also an early innovator in the advertising market, for example with the dynamic exchange of advertising blocks in the live stream.
Today, Zattoo operates white-label platforms for over 30 providers in ten countries, including 1&1 in Germany, Salt in Switzerland and Waoo in Denmark. The platform is available on a wide range of devices and has a broad technical reach. Zattoo has been climate-neutral since 2020 and was honored with the Technology & Engineering Emmy Award in the same year.
In future, Zattoo intends to focus on four strategic business areas: the direct-to-consumer business in the DACH region, the end-to-end TV platform for internet providers, modular offerings for broadcasters and OTT providers as well as advertising solutions in the connected TV sector.
To mark its anniversary, Zattoo is thanking its paying subscribers in Germany and Switzerland with a free month of Zattoo Plus Entertainment. In addition, 20 annual subscriptions for "Zattoo Ultimate" will be raffled off from Monday.
"20 years ago, we took the first step towards bringing television to the internet, against a lot of resistance, but with a clear vision. Today, millions of people stream via our platform. That fills us with great pride. We are celebrating this anniversary with gratitude and with the drive to continue shaping TV and video streaming in the future," says Roger Elsener, CEO of Zattoo.
