Business
Vodafone Germany sees first growth in TV customers in nearly a decade
24.07.2025, 10:33
After nearly a decade of decline, Vodafone Germany has recorded a small gain in TV customers, marking a potential turnaround in its long-sinking cable television business.
In the the first quarter of its 2025-26 fiscal year ending in March, Vodafone added 28,000 cable subscribers, bringing the total to around 8.8 million, the company announced on Thursday in Dusseldorf.
The last time the company saw organic growth in TV subscribers was in the summer of 2015. In 2019, the customer base increased only as a result of its acquisition of Unitymedia, which was not considered organic growth.
For decades, Vodafone had an easy foothold in Germany's television market, as millions of tenants were automatically subscribed through bulk contracts arranged by landlords, with TV costs included in utility fees - whether tenants used the service or not.
That legal provision was abolished in mid-2024, giving renters freedom of choice. As a result, Vodafone lost millions of TV customers, including a sharp drop of 2.2 million in mid-2024 alone.
Customer losses between 2015 and 2023 were largely due to the rise of streaming platforms and shifting viewing habits, as more people moved away from traditional broadcast schedules in favour of on-demand content online, a trend that hit Vodafone's TV business hard.
Vodafone has been integrating its TV business into its broader internet offering. Many customers now have bundled contracts that include internet access, with linear TV included as a secondary feature.
Vodafone only discloses revenue for its fixed-line internet segment, which includes TV services: that figure fell 8% year-on-year in the first quarter to around €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion). The decline reflects the high comparison base from before the new law took effect in July 2024.
Vodafone Germany did not disclose operating profit for the quarter. For the full fiscal year 2024-25, operating profit declined, as competition with rivals Deutsche Telekom, O2 and 1&1 put pressure on the company.