German Entertainment & Media Outlook 2026–2030

The publishing market continues to evolve – print is under pressure, whilst digital revenues are rising

The German publishing market is undergoing a period of structural transformation. Newspapers and magazines, in particular, are losing readership and revenue, whilst the book market remains the most stable sector. Digital subscriptions, e-papers and internet advertising are growing, but they only partially offset the losses in the print business. Subscription and bundled models are gaining ground. The revenue model is shifting from one-off sales towards a long-term usage relationship.

Streaming grows, traditional TV declines, cinema caught between growth and challenge

The German moving image market is undergoing structural change, too. Streaming remains the key driver of growth, while traditional television continues to lose ground, particularly in the advertising sector. In both segments, increasing market fragmentation is encouraging partnerships and bundled offers; at the same time, AI is lowering the barriers to entry for smaller studios in content production. Cinema ticket sales are on the rise, driven in part by a strong year of local productions. 

Music market grows, radio advertising under pressure, podcast advertising gains ground

The German audio market is characterised by a high degree of maturity. Music remains the segment with the highest revenue, driven by the streaming business and the live music industry. Radio continues to have a wide reach but is suffering from falling advertising revenue. Podcast advertising is emerging as the most dynamic niche in the market. The focus of the competition is shifting from user growth to effective monetisation and integrated platform strategies.

Mobile gaming as a driver of growth; augmented reality overtakes virtual reality

The German market for gaming and interactive experiences continues to grow, driven primarily by social and casual gaming as well as mobile formats. Cloud gaming is currently in the adoption phase, but holds considerable potential. E-sports remains a small, volatile sector, yet is gaining visibility thanks to new international formats. In the Mixed Reality Market (XR market), there is a clear shift from virtual reality (VR) towards augmented reality (AR). AR is expected to account for over 90% of the XR market in the future. 

Digital formats and data-based channels are fuelling the growing advertising market

The advertising market continued to grow in 2025. The key drivers of growth in internet advertising are paid search, online video, social media and retail media. Data-driven targeting, programmatic advertising and AI-powered personalisation are making this segment increasingly attractive to advertisers and are driving a further shift in budgets away from traditional channels and towards the digital sphere. Out-of-home advertising (OOH) is also benefiting from the ongoing expansion of digital advertising spaces. Germany is one of the four largest markets in the world in this respect. By 2030, digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising will account for well over half of total revenue in the out-of-home advertising market.

The B2B media market and the connectivity market are gaining maturity as the backbone of the media ecosystem

Business information is increasingly evolving into data-driven, platform-based solutions that complement traditional publication formats. Trade magazines are under pressure, whilst trade fairs are maintaining their role as key venues for networking and knowledge transfer.

In the connectivity market, the volume of data transmitted is rising rapidly, driven by streaming, cloud services and mobile usage. As data traffic increases, so too do the demands on speed, stability and latency.