On average, Germans over the age of 14 watched 5 minutes more TV per day than they did the previous year: 266 minutes. In the target 14- to 49-year-old audience, viewing time increased by 4 minutes per day to 182 minutes. Heads of household aged 14 to 49 led the pack, growing their TV habit by a full 6 minutes per day to 237 minutes. Children, too, increased their viewing time by 2 minutes. Only among young adults aged 14 to 29 was there no increase: at 136 minutes a day, the figure was on par with that of the previous year.
If you only look at the three major German commercial channels RTL Television, Sat 1 and ProSieben, it is striking that these are responsible for a good 65 per cent of the increase in viewing time among adults over the age of 14. In the 14 to 49 target group, the increase was due almost exclusively to the major commercial channels. RTL Television in particular contributed a major proportion – nearly 3 minutes more year on year, totalling 70 per cent of the growth.
This overall positive upward trend in average viewing time has continued in the New Year: compared with the previous year, in January 2010 it increased considerably again in all surveyed target groups.
8 February 2010 - IP Deutschland, Germany