For the eighth time, Goldbach Group, Goldbach Austria (a company within the Azerion group), and Goldvertise Media (formerly Goldbach Germany) have conducted a study on the use and distribution of connected TV (CTV). The report, published in January 2025, covers the entire Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH) region. It shows that advertising on CTV is more accepted by viewers than in the previous year. The results once again highlight the importance of CTV in the media mix. CTV enables reaching hard-to-reach target groups, such as users who have cancelled cable TV or demanding users of streaming services.
At 73%, awareness of CTV is at a high level, with the older target group of 50-69-year-olds in particular gaining the most (+3%* compared to the previous year). CTV usage continues to be highest among households with children (69%), with one-person households gaining the most at +4%* compared to the previous year. Overall, 52% of respondents (16-69-year-olds) watch CTV weekly, while more than a quarter use CTV daily (27%).
On average, 2.2 people sit together in front of the TV set. Younger people aged 16–29 spend 2.5 hours per day watching CTV. This means they spend more time in the CTV environment than watching linear TV programmes.
In the DACH region, the number of people no longer using traditional TV (cable or satellite) has also increased to 32%. This mainly affects the 30–49 age group. As in the previous year, the most active CTV users are households with children and households with three or more people.
Ad perception and acceptance continue to rise
Similarly, this year there has been a further increase in the perception and acceptance of advertising: in the DACH region, awareness of advertising in the CTV environment rose to 54% (+3% compared to the previous year). The highest awareness of advertising is found in households with children (59%) and larger households (56%). Among surveyed women, the perception of advertising on CTV increased the most compared to the previous year. The study confirmed a 4% increase, from 48% in 2024 to 52% this year. Comparing individual countries, Germany continues to lead in advertising perception with 5%. In Austria, the perception of advertising has significantly increased: it rose by 8% compared to the previous year and now reaches 56%.
Acceptance of advertising in the CTV environment has also increased: 55% of CTV users (respondents who use CTV’s additional features) consider advertising within these features completely acceptable. This represents a 3% increase compared to 2024, with the highest growth recorded in Austria, where acceptance rose by 10%.
Source: Goldbach Advanced TV Studie 202536% of respondents remember the content of ads on CTV, 34% learn more information, and nearly one-third (32%) would consider purchasing the product. This last figure represents a 3% increase compared to the previous year. Comparing individual countries, Austria and Switzerland show a 4% increase in purchase intent, reaching 30%, while Germany stands at 34%. Equally interesting for advertisers is that nearly half of CTV users (47%) stated that “advertising on CTV provides useful information about new products,” and 40% still believe that advertising in this medium “is helpful for consumers.”
Source: Goldbach Advanced TV Studie 2025Free CTV apps lead, acceptance of ads increases
CTV won over respondents with its large selection of content and high degree of flexibility, as well as the option to design the programme themselves. One in five men (18%) use sports apps on Connected TV, while linear content is particularly popular with people over 50 (53%). Entertainment dominates the use of CTV apps with 86% and is therefore far ahead of all other categories.
Source: Goldbach Advanced TV Studie 2025On average, 2.6 paid apps are used, with the young target group (16-29-year-olds) and households with children (2.9 on average) making the highest use. The average number of free apps used is 3.1, with men leading the way with 3.4 apps. A significant majority, 71% of users of paid apps, would be willing to accept advertising to receive content for free. This is an increase of 6% compared to the previous year.
About the study
Goldbach has been conducting the Advanced TV Study since 2017. This year, 3,500 people (1,500 from Germany, 1,000 each from Austria and Switzerland) aged 16-69 across the DACH region took part in the study. They were surveyed online on the topics of “Awareness, type and use of connected TV”, “Ownership of internet-enabled TV sets”, “App use on internet-enabled TV sets” and “Perception and assessment of advertising in the area of additional functions on connected TV”. The survey took place in January 2025.
Source: screenforce.at