Abstract:

In light of the drastic changes in the German television market within just a few years, this paper asks how the audience has changed its viewing behaviour in the new television landscape. The main point is to show that the viewers switch more often between channels than they did a few years ago. A comparison will be made to the development of the programme length. An analysis of the amount of changes during the various programme types and a case study will give an idea of how the audience behaves during programmes. From these findings we derive the hypothesis that channel loyalty has become marginal and that programme ratings in a competitive market depend highly on the various programmes offered at any given time.