High online affinity: people in Berlin use livestreams and video-on-demand services more frequently than the national average

What’s even more striking is that young people in particular use streaming services more frequently than they watch conventional TV. <link http://mabb.de/ - external-link-new-window "Opens external link in new window">Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg (mabb)</link> had commissioned the survey. 

Of those Berlin households that own a TV set, more than half (54.5 percent) have already at least one of those terminal devices connected to the internet, either directly or indirectly, using set-top boxes, streaming sticks or laptops, for example. This enables users to watch live streams or video-on-demand (VOD) offers not only on a PC or laptop, but also directly on their TV set. At 45 percent, the nationwide online connection rate is lower. Regardless of the terminal device, nearly 1.6 million people in Berlin use livestreams or VOD offers at least once a month. On a percentage basis, this translates to 17 percent above the national average. The most popular streaming platform is YouTube, followed by online video libraries such as Amazon Prime Video or Netflix.

While the TV remains the most important device with a screen on a national level, 30 percent of respondents living in Berlin said that their smartphone had replaced their TV as most important device. When it comes to the different forms of use, conventional linear TV programme with 64 percent still accounts for the largest share compared to VOD (22 percent). In the age group of 14 to 29, however, VOD (53 percent) has overtaken conventional TV (40 percent) in terms of popularity. “In Berlin, in particular, it clearly shows that we are, and, in fact, have been for quite some time now, on the way to a media world that is exclusively digital, mobile and flexible,” said mabb director Dr. Anja Zimmer.