What regulatory requirements should OTT TV providers keep in mind when entering the German market?
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Foreign businesses considering whether to enter the German TV market should be aware that Germany has the largest and best-financed public broadcasting system in the world, making it a competitive landscape to break into.
A second notable characteristic of the German TV market is that “Free TV” is still the dominant business model. While Pay-TV, teleshopping and other models are on the rise, private broadcaster revenues still predominantly come from advertising, with most TV channels offered without charge to viewers. The same goes for the public channels, which are free (save for public broadcasting fees). Having said that, other business models are becoming increasingly prevalent, for example “hybrid” subscription services combining linear TV with Video on Demand (VoD).
For the moment at least, it remains to be seen which models will prove to be the most successful. There is certainly a lot of movement in the market, with new players entering almost every month, and the established providers adapting their products rapidly, in order to meet new challenges (“TV anywhere” and “TV anytime” becoming increasingly relevant).
