Internet closely beaten: television once again the most important news source

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Tagesschau, heute & Co. have regained first place in Germany in terms of importance for satisfying the hunger for information about current events. This year, 43% of Germans who consume news in principle say that linear television news is their most important source. In 2024, it was only 41%. Online news portals, including podcasts and AI chatbots, which were included for the first time this year, came in at 42% overall. This is the same figure as last year, but without the two new categories.

The figures come from the German sub-study of the Oxford Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2025 on international news usage, published on Tuesday. According to the report, social media continues to be the most important source of news on the internet (14%). The importance of social media for news has grown steadily since 2013. However, the researchers believe that this has now reached saturation point.

Age differences play a significant role. For the majority of people aged 55 and over, linear television is by far the most essential source of news (59%). In the youngest age group surveyed, on the other hand, news is mainly used online (65%). Around a third of these 18 to 24-year-olds still consider social media to be their most important source of news. For eight percent, websites, or apps from TV and radio providers are the most important news sources, and for seven percent it is podcasts. ChatGPT, Gemini & Co. only play this role for four percent of participants of this age.

AI chatbots are hardly relevant for news

66% of the online population consume news on the internet at least once a week. The most frequently used news source there is social media. Among 18 to 24-year-olds, every second person regularly obtains news from such networks. 61% of adult internet users watch a news program on linear television at least once a week. In the youngest age group, the figure is just under a third.

Despite their popularity, it can be observed that the majority of people use social media as a supplement to other news sources. According to the researchers, this finding, which has been stable for years, relativizes possible risks in relation to the political opinion-forming of the population, such as the emergence of so-called filter bubbles or echo chambers. YouTube (18%), WhatsApp and Facebook are the most popular with 15% each. Of all news content on social media, that from traditional news media or professional journalists receives the most attention.

Despite their increasing prevalence, AI chatbots have so far only played a minor role in the context of news and enjoy little trust. Only four percent of Germans use such tools to find out about current affairs on a weekly basis. Among the under-35s, this figure is slightly higher at around 9.5%. At the same time, AI tools are almost always used as a supplement to other news sources. According to the authors, there is currently no evidence that this is displacing traditional sources of information.

Willingness to pay remains low

Podcasts not only enable flexible, incidental consumption on various platforms, but also offer scope for in-depth engagement with complex content. Overall, almost a tenth of participants in 2025 stated that they listened to the news in this way at least once a week. This figure is slightly higher among the under-35s at around 14%. 44% of regular listeners state that they would be willing to pay a reasonable price for their preferred news podcast.

Payment behavior for online news in general will remain at a low level in Germany in 2025. As of 2024, 13% say that they have paid for online news or used a fee-based online news service in the past year. Payment behavior is most pronounced in the middle age group. Younger people state that more flexibility in payment would motivate them to pay for special formats. This includes, for example, the option to pay a small amount for a day, a week or a single article.

News avoidance and trust

General interest in news remains stable. As in 2024, 55% of Germans say that they are extremely or very interested in the news. At the same time, 71% say that they deliberately avoid news at least occasionally (2024: 69%). 13% even try to do this often. The reasons for this are negative effects on mood and too many reports about wars and conflicts.

45% of users are convinced that the majority of news can generally be trusted. The main broadcasts of the public broadcasters are once again the channels with the highest ratings, followed by regional daily newspapers. More than half of respondents see influencers as a major threat in connection with disinformation. A further 47% expressed the opinion that activists and foreign governments, politicians, or parties are risky in this area. 40 percent think this is the case regarding such groups from Germany. TikTok is considered particularly dangerous (57%), closely followed by X and Facebook (53% and 50% respectively).

The Reuters Research Institute has been investigating general trends and national characteristics of news usage annually since 2012 via online surveys in 48 countries. The Leibniz Institute for Media Research (Hans Bredow Institute) is the cooperation partner responsible for the German part of the study. The survey institute YouGov carried out the fieldwork in January. The results are representative of the German population aged 18 and over with Internet access.

(vbr)