Press Releases

On November 2, 1990, 19 decision-makers founded the 'National HDTV Platform Germany' at Frankfurt Airport — today, the German TV Platform is an association of over 50 companies and actively shapes the technologies of digital television as a neutral industry forum.

At the 16th Plugfest and HbbTV Testing Event at Fraunhofer FOKUS in Berlin, more than 30 companies from 13 countries tested the interoperability of new TV applications in around 200 test sessions — the most successful event of its kind to date.

On November 18, 2025, ZDF will discontinue SD broadcasting via satellite. ZDF, ZDFneo, ZDFinfo, 3sat, and KiKA will then be available exclusively in HD. The German TV Platform and ZVEI recommend private households and operators of communal facilities to check their reception devices in good time.

As part of the IBC 2025, the German TV Platform and DVB have agreed on an official liaison. The partnership intensifies collaboration on topics such as DVB-I and accessibility and creates a common basis for the introduction of new standards in Germany and Europe.

The CE Industry Compass Q1/2025 records a significant increase: 1.2 million TV sets sold represent a rise of 15.4 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year. The driver was the ARD SD shutdown at the beginning of 2025 — it also massively boosted the sales of set-top boxes, which increased by 147 percent to 422,000 units.

The termination of ARD's SD-quality broadcast via satellite has led to a special boom in the business of televisions and receivers ("set-top boxes") for HDTV reception. According to current figures from GfK, around 1.6 million TV sets were sold in the fourth quarter of 2024 – 6.2 percent more than in the same period of the previous year.

The CE Industry Compass 2024 records moderate growth: Nearly 4.6 million TV sets sold represent an increase of 2.6 percent compared to the previous year. Drivers were the European Football Championship in the second quarter and replacement purchases due to the ARD SD shutdown. OLED TVs and large formats over 65 inches grew disproportionately.