Streaming in Germany: A Brief History of the Streaming Revolution

Until a few years ago, you had to sit in front of the TV at the right time to watch your favorite series, the Champions League final or the news.

It was not uncommon for people to fight over the remote control - after all, you couldn't just watch the desired program later.Today, these scenes hardly ever take place in the living room. 

Most households now have enough screens in the form of TVs, laptops, tablets or smartphones so that everyone can choose what they want to watch. And the time is no longer relevant due to streaming.

More Independence Thanks To The Internet

With the advent of the Internet, we have also gained the ability to watch programs online instead of just watching TV. Soon after, video-on-demand platforms were established, although initially they were not able to celebrate a broad triumph.

The streaming still had a clear problem: And that was called "peer-to-peer sharing". Countless networks contributed to the fact that series, films and music could be shared illegally. The quality had to give up a bit. However, the sheer volume of content available meant that many users simply couldn't resist the temptation of internet piracy.

Viewers were simply looking for free content. A market that was eventually captured by YouTube in 2005. Although the platform initially contained more pixelated amateur videos, the so-called creators quickly evolved and learned to produce content that could well rival television in quality.

From DVD To Streaming Provider

Netflix, which is the most popular streaming provider today, was even founded in America back in 1997. At first, the company was just a simple DVD rental company. With the decline of this format, however, the company expanded and gradually established itself in the streaming market. Finally, in 2014, the new streaming platform could also be used in Germany.

The triumph of streaming could no longer be stopped. While only 7% of Germans made use of video-on-demand offers in 2015, by 2019 it was 32%. Add to that the hours of content consumed through web-funded platforms like YouTube.But even the German TV broadcasters can no longer avoid the new trend. They also offer streaming fans their own media libraries.

The general market now enables viewers to put together a streaming package individually tailored to their needs. For example, Disney+ is all the rage with families. Providers like DAZN, on the other hand, are more geared towards sports fans.As these offers become more and more attractive, the illegal streaming of content is being pushed back more and more.

Music Steaming 

At the height of piracy, viewers were often drawn to music as well. Since the music industry closed its eyes to this reality for a long time, expensive CDs and subscription models made the decision easy for them.Shortly after YouTube, however, they were offered a real game changer with Spotify. Ten years followed, during which the new service gained up to 4 million users per year.

In the meantime there is also competition: Apple Music has caught up a lot in music stream ever, with a market share of 60%, Spotify remains the most popular provider among Germans.