How important are teleshopping channels on television – and how easy do they have to be to find on cable television, for example? The Higher Administrative Court (OVG) for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia will deal with this question on Wednesday (May 27th). Two providers have been arguing with the NRW State Media Authority about this question for years. This involves inclusion in a list called “Public Value”.
The state media authorities adopt this list every three years. According to the State Media Treaty, anyone who says it has the right to be easily and quickly found on the user interfaces of smart TVs or on cable television. According to the law, this applies to broadcasters that make a special contribution to the diversity of opinions and offerings. In the case of teleshopping providers, the responsible state media authority answers this question in the negative. For QVC and its competitor HSE, the Düsseldorf Administrative Court ruled in favor of the media authority in the lower court.
In an appeal process, the 13th Senate of the OVG must now clarify whether it shares this view. QVC from Düsseldorf called the highest administrative judges in North Rhine-Westphalia for clarification. According to a court spokeswoman, HSE has withdrawn from an appeal that had been lodged in the meantime.
According to QVC lawyer Raimund Schütz, the fundamental question is whether teleshopping programs are entitled to be included in the “Public Value” list. In 2022, this didn’t happen to a single person, says Schütz of the German Press Agency. So it’s not about the individual QVC case.
What does the law say?
According to the law, providers must meet various criteria to be accepted. For his client, four of these are undisputed, says the lawyer. In the plaintiff’s opinion, the state media authority does not interpret the concept of information broadly enough. According to Schütz, QVC definitely provides information about regional products and also for a young target group.
The requirements are precisely laid down in the State Media Treaty between the federal states and the providers and distributors of channels. The responsible state media authority must take seven criteria into account when granting approval:
The offer must contain news reporting on political and contemporary events.
A share of regional and local information is also required.
The ratio between in-house and externally produced program content must be right.
Barrier-free offers must be taken into account, at least to some extent.
When creating the program, the ratio between trained and trainee employees must be right.
There must be a quota for European works.
A proportion of offers for a young target group must also be fulfilled.
Regarding the argument about the diversity of offerings, the QVC lawyer says: “A broadcasting offering with teleshopping is more diverse than an offering without such content.” Teleshopping brings additional benefits, particularly for older, less internet-savvy viewers. His client is particularly concerned with people who live in rural areas or who, for other reasons, find it difficult to buy products in stores or over the Internet.
Association emphasizes social media revival
The importance of the providers of teleshopping channels is difficult even for the responsible trade associations to interpret. The audience ratings are measured, but according to the responsible AGF Videoforschungs GmbH, based in Frankfurt, are not published. Audience ratings are important for broadcasters in order to be able to settle accounts with the advertising industry. For teleshopping channels, however, what is crucial is how high the turnover per viewer (or caller) is.
According to Vaunet, the private media association, teleshopping channels generated sales of 2.3 billion euros in 2020. Since then, the numbers have fallen to 2.1 billion euros by 2024. The association expects the value to remain unchanged for 2025. This means that the share of the industry’s total revenue pie from pay TV, streaming and audio advertising has been shrinking for years.
However, according to the Federal Association of E-Commerce and Mail Order Germany (Bevh), teleshopping is currently experiencing a revival – as so-called live shopping on social media such as Instagram and TikTok. “Vaunet does not count these sales,” says Bevh deputy chairman Martin Groß-Albenhausen. This means that the range of entertainment and shopping options goes far beyond classic teleshopping, which is broadcast via television channels.
Teleshopping providers continue to turn over billions
The association reported online sales of 83.15 billion euros for the past year 2025, 3.2 percent more than the year before. The online share of teleshopping is also showing slight growth. However, the survey is based on online surveys. The association therefore assumes that the order numbers of older customers in particular over the telephone are not recorded.
According to lawyer Schütz, QVC is the market leader in Germany. The company achieved net sales of 694 million euros in 2025. That is around a third of the teleshopping providers’ total sales of 2.1 billion euros. Together with its competitor HSE, QVC has a share of around 65 percent.