Cord-cutting has long been the prevailing narrative across the TV landscape, but certain European markets appear to be less affected by the trend than the US. In Germany, pay-TV subscriptions are actually on the rise, according to a new report from German trade body VAUNET, even as pay-TV revenues continue to decline.
The report, ‘Pay-TV & Paid VOD in Germany 2025/2026’, found that the number of pay-TV subscriptions stood at 15.8 million in 2025, up from 15.2 million in 2024. And this is expected to rise by a further 3 percent in 2026, bringing the total to 16.4 million by the end of the year. The research added that the net reach of pay-TV channels in German TV households averaged 18.9 million viewers per month in 2025, rising to 19.2 million in the first half of this year.
“The willingness to pay for pay-TV and video streaming services in Germany remains at a record high,” said Frank Giersberg, Managing Director at VAUNET. “In economically uncertain times marked by growing cost-consciousness, this is by no means a given; rather, it reflects the remarkably high value consumers place on the high-quality and increasingly diverse range of pay-TV channels and streaming services available.”
Building bundles
VAUNET attributed the growth in subscriptions to the diverse range of pay-TV services available in Germany, alongside the flexibility of bundles and packages. The research identified 110 pay-TV channels available in the country, including Sky Deutschland, Vodafone GigaTV, and MagentaTV, as well as pay-TV content available on the Joyn+ and RTL+ streaming services.
And where the inflexibility of pay-TV packages in the US is a major factor when it comes to cord-cutting, due to consumers having to pay expensive fees for channels they do not watch, VAUNET noted the ability for German customers to tailor pay-TV bundles to their needs.
“In addition to starter or basic packages, the platforms’ offerings typically include various combinations of bundles covering sports, movies and series, children’s programming, and foreign-language content,” according to the report. “Often, these packages also consist of a mix of linear and non-linear services.”
Yet amid this period of subscription growth, pay-TV revenues in Germany declined by 5.7 percent in 2025, standing at around €2 billion, down from €2.1 billion in 2024. VAUNET expects a further decline of 4 percent this year to reach €1.9 billion.
Return to growth
However, the trade body found that these declines are being offset by SVOD subscriptions, and forecasts the overall pay-TV and paid streaming market in Germany to grow by 1.3 percent this year to hit €5.6 billion. This marks a return to growth for the market, which was flat in 2025, with revenues stable at €5.5 billion – despite 3.8 percent growth in SVOD revenues, which reached €3 billion in 2025.
And this year’s growth is expected to be driven by the paid streaming market, according to the study. SVOD subscriptions in Germany reached 25.9 million in 2025, according to the report, up from 25.4 million in 2024. This is forecast to rise by 3 percent this year, reaching 26.7 million in 2026. SVOD revenues are also projected to grow by 5 percent, reaching €3.2 billion.
VAUNET’s Frank Giersberg noted that competition is growing in Germany, and warned against strict regulatory burdens in the market, which have proven challenging for European media companies in recent years – though this does appear to be changing, with MFE’s takeover of ProSieben, and RTL’s acquisition of Sky Deutschland going ahead over the past year.
“The market for pay-TV and video streaming services in Germany remains highly attractive, though it is also becoming increasingly competitive,” said Giersberg. “VAUNET member companies are successfully rising to this challenge. However, future developments will also depend on key policy decisions. Additional regulatory burdens would pose major challenges for companies in the current market environment and, ultimately, harm the diversity of audiovisual media in Germany.”
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