Television is a definitive leader in the German advertising market. In 2023, it reigned over 46 percent of the
, some 32 percentage points more than the second largest medium – newspapers. It is a situation unlike in other mature ad markets where TV has long been dethroned by internet advertising and had its market share reduced to low two-digit values. So far, German advertisers have relied heavily on TV and seemed unwilling to reallocate ad budgets to digital media.
Changing status quo
However, this situation is about to shift. In 2022,
TV advertising revenue in Germany was estimated at 4.45 billion euros. The market does not anticipate the value to climb above this level until 2027. On the contrary, forecasts project negative growth rates in four out of five years in that period. The only subsector to record growth will be
online TV, with modest, one-digit annual increases. This growth will not make a significant difference, as online TV makes only a fraction of Germany’s total TV ad spend. On the other hand, digital ad spending is projected to experience healthy growth until 2026.
Who pays? Who benefits?
The most prominent believers in TV advertising are fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) corporations, taking four out of the top five spots among the
top free-TV advertisers in Germany in the last quarter of 2022. Procter & Gamble ranked first with more than 375 million euros, followed by the Ferrero Group, L’Oréal, and Henkel. The odd one out was RTL Interactive, in place three. RTL benefited the most from the country's TV-focused ad industry, generating nearly 3.5 billion euros in revenue with advertising in 2021. ProSieben and Sat.1 completed the top three
TV broadcasters with the highest ad revenues.
Consumers’ top choice, but for how long still?
The small screen is the favorite medium of the German consumer.
TV was considered likable or very likable by 73 percent of German adults. Additionally, 79 percent said they
noticed advertising on TV weekly or more often. However, market research shows that advertisers overpay for the service. TV’s share of ad spending is significantly larger than its share of consumers’ media time. Additionally, the
average TV viewing time in Germany is falling. In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, it stood at 220 minutes daily, to fall to 213 minutes in 2021 and 182 minutes in 2023. This might push marketers to reassign linear TV ad budgets to other media – most likely online. Media experts project the highest growth in retail media, addressable TV, and digital out-of-home.
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