display
The question is no longer whether international streaming offers such as Netflix, Amazon and Disney + are causing problems for traditional TV channels.
The question is whether they will largely make the stations superfluous, who continue to live primarily from their linear programming and build up their digital offerings as it were - and when.
A new study shows that the faster the streaming platforms grow, the smaller the TV broadcasters can do.
Media experts from the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (WWU) and the management consultancy Roland Berger have analyzed how the German streaming market has changed in the past year.
A lot of attention is paid to the market entry of the Disney + service, which was launched in Germany last March.
Based on the reactions of the users, it can be deduced what the future of television could look like and which providers will dominate.
“Attack from Hollywood” is the striking title of the study, which was created under the direction of Thorsten Hennig-Thurau, who holds the chair for Marketing & Media at the Marketing Center of the University of Münster.
“Disney is pioneering a second wave of streaming providers that will put television under further pressure,” predicts Hennig-Thurau.
"After the shift to the non-linear format by the tech corporations, the big global entertainment giants are now entering the market, all of whom are spending billions like Disney in the competition for viewing time and money for consumers."
display
On the way to Europe and Germany are offers from American media groups such as HBO Max von Warner (part of AT&T), Peacock from NBCUniversal (Comcast) and Paramount + from ViacomCBS.
The path to internationalization is essential in order to generate new sales.
Because with the start of their own offer, the media companies always forego license income, for example, from broadcasters or Netflix and Amazon for the series and films they produce.
Don't mess up: international corporations spend on content
Source: WORLD infographic
The number of offers that a single household ultimately subscribes to is limited.
However, the number of users in Germany is still increasing.
"So far, there is no evidence of excessive demands on the users due to the multitude of offers and formats," says Niko Herborg, partner at Roland Berger.
More than half of the 1346 respondents have taken out at least one streaming or pay TV subscription themselves.
Netflix, YouTube and Amazon record the most viewing time among respondents of all age groups - before ZDF and ARD, including their media libraries.
15 percent of those surveyed had access to the offer three months after the start of Disney +, another four percent had already canceled by then.
The launch of Disney + is recognized as a success worldwide, with almost 90 million subscribers cited before Christmas.
The viewing time champions in Germany
Source: WORLD infographic
display
It is now interesting that the people with access to Disney + watched more streaming content overall and at the same time reduced their consumption of television channels.
The viewing time of public broadcasters fell more sharply than that of private broadcasters.
The media researchers believe that Disney, as a provider of largely “clean” family entertainment, is more likely to substitute ARD and ZDF than RTL or ProSieben.
The findings should cause headaches for all television managers.
Because it shows that new streaming offers expand the market on the one hand, but that the users of these new offers also and above all forego linear television.
"The television stations, which are already overwhelmed with digitization, have lost viewing time since Disney entered the market," says media scientist Hennig-Thurau.
Specifically, the proportion of free-to-air channels in the time budget for Disney users fell by four percentage points.
Of the competing streaming offers, Netflix lost the most viewing time with Disney users.
The division of time budgets is changing
Source: WORLD infographic
Instead of painting the apocalypse on the wall for the broadcasters, the authors of the study want their analysis to be understood as a wake-up call.
The transmitters are "prisoners of their own success in the linear world".
The substantial budgets were largely used for the acquisition and production of linear content that might be extended to the media libraries, but this is precisely where it is still lacking in attractiveness.
On the other hand, Netflix and Amazon are also losing viewing time among Disney users - but overall, the newcomer has further stimulated and expanded the market.
display
New platforms therefore have an overall vitalizing effect on non-linear television use.
Older viewers over 50, for whom free-to-air television still dominates, are increasingly changing their usage behavior, says Berger consultant Niko Herborg.
The corona pandemic is also accelerating the digitization of households.
German television stations have large budgets, but put large parts into linear TV formats
Source: WORLD infographic
“The broadcasters would have to take a much more radical approach and bring about a fundamental cultural change as quickly as possible,” recommends Thorsten Hennig-Thurau.
"The success of this Herculean task depends above all on the determination of the German television producers."
This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG. We will be happy to deliver them to your home on a regular basis.
Source: WELT AM SONNTAG