In Germany alone, cable subscriptions are projected to fall from 15.2 million in 2023 to 13.5 million by 2028, while streaming and IPTV continue their upward march. An accelerating shift toward on-demand, personalized viewing through streaming is happening right in front of our eyes. Across Western Europe, 74% of television viewing time was already spent on non-linear content in 2024.

Yet as the DACH region embraces this transition, operators, broadcasters, and streaming services face a challenge that technology alone cannot solve: the content abundance paradox. Global streaming services grew by more than 5% in just the final quarter of 2025, adding nearly 30,000 new titles in that period alone. Austrian, German, and Swiss viewers now navigate a fragmented universe of linear channels, catch-up TV, SVOD, AVOD, and FAST channels - often across multiple devices and platforms. Research consistently shows that less than 16% of viewers actually know what they want to watch when they open a streaming service. The rest are searching. And when viewers struggle to find content, they churn.

This is why metadata has become the decisive competitive differentiator.

Rich, well-structured metadata - encompassing accurate EPG data, mood descriptors, contextual keywords, franchise relationships, and second-accurate program markers - is no longer a back-office technical function. It is the engine that powers recommendations, personalization, content discovery, and ultimately, viewer retention. Netflix itself has reported that as much as 80% of TV show views are driven by metadata-powered recommendations. For DACH operators rebuilding their platforms around hybrid linear-streaming experiences, the quality of metadata determines whether a viewer finds their next favorite show or moves away.

The DACH market has its own distinct requirements. Direct feed integrations with public and commercial broadcasters, real-time updates for live events, SCTE-35 marker precision, and localized keyword taxonomies in German are all non-negotiable for operators serving viewers in this region. The next generation of TV platforms in the DACH market must seamlessly aggregate linear TV, streaming apps, and catch-up services behind a single, intuitive discovery layer - what the industry is calling super aggregation. Austria's ORS group, operator of the SimpliTV streaming service, recently made this strategic shift, selecting Simply.TV as its metadata partner precisely because of its ability to deliver real-time data across 1000+ linear channels, direct broadcaster integrations, and rich descriptors to fuel personalized recommendations.

Across the DACH region, smart TV penetration is rising, and viewer expectations are increasing. Players like Netflix and YouTube have reset the bar for what good content navigation looks like. AI-driven home screens that adapt dynamically to context, voice-first discovery, and cross-platform watchlists are moving from aspiration to expectation. For TV operators, streaming services, and broadcasters in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, the window to differentiate on user experience is open, but it depends on getting the metadata layer right.

Simply.TV is the fastest-growing entertainment data company, trusted by leading TV brands globally, including PŸUR, 1&1, A1, Vodafone, Salt, and ORS. We power EPG, VOD, FAST, and streaming metadata with AI and machine learning, combined with expert editorial workflows, to help operators and broadcasters deliver the content discovery experiences their viewers expect.

We are at Fiber Days, Frankfurt: 25 & 26 March 2026. If you are a TV operator, streaming service, or broadcaster serving the German-speaking market, we would love to connect and explore how Simply.TV can elevate your platform.

📩 Get in touch: Andreas Teubner: ateubner@simply.tv | www.simply.tv