The other day, I was sitting in the living room with my father. He, “the head of the house,” had the remote in hand, zapping through the channels in search of the right movie or a good documentary (we both love documentaries). After about ten minutes, he landed on a show about trains from the 1960s. Not bad, but definitely not my kind of steam engine.

So I instinctively reached for my phone and opened a streaming app. When my father eventually noticed – and by eventually I mean well over 15 minutes later, because he was truly fascinated by those old trains – he looked at me and said dryly:
“Back in the day, you just sat down and watched. Today, people click their fingers off in the little internet.”
(The little internet – that’s what he calls mobile internet.)

That sentence stuck with me. And it came back to mind when I read the new 2025 Moving Image Study by RTR Medien and AGTT.

The TV World is Changing
The numbers speak for themselves: traditional linear TV is steadily losing relevance.
While more than 80% of Austrians still watched “normal television” daily in 2016, that figure drops to just 59.3% in 2025.
Among those under 30? Just 31.6%, which is less than one in three.

At the same time, streaming platforms and on-demand services are booming. In the 14–29 age group, non-linear video already makes up almost half of daily viewing. YouTube, Netflix, Disney+ and the like are clearly winning attention.

But: TV is Far from Dead
Among people over 50, linear television remains king.
With a daily reach of 79% and a market share of over 80%, traditional TV continues to be the number one medium in this age group.
For many, it’s more than entertainment. It’s a habit, a ritual, maybe even a piece of home.

Caught Between Too Many Choices and the Freedom to Choose
And the rest of us? We often find ourselves somewhere in between.
Who hasn’t spent 15 minutes browsing media libraries or apps, only to end up watching the same familiar series again?

Maybe that’s the charm of linear TV – just turning it on and being surprised.
No algorithms, no endless scrolling, no “What should I watch?” Just watching.

So, What Comes Next?
I don’t believe TV is losing its relevance.
Instead, we’re seeing a new coexistence of old and new. Some stream, some surf, and many do both.
Personally, I hope linear television makes a comeback. Not out of nostalgia, but because it offers something the streaming world often doesn’t:
that feeling of “something’s on – and I’m part of it.”

By the way, I’m a child of the ’80s. I loved watching TV.
And I was lucky enough to spend part of my career at a channel called MTV.
If you remember it – it was an innovative, wild format that helped shape entire generations.

You can find the full study here on the RTR website.