The most successful publishers in Germany in 2024

We’re back with another analysis of the top news publishers in Germany, looking at who has earned the most engagement with their articles, and what that content looks like. 

Previously we’ve highlighted the top performing websites solely through web content on Facebook, but this time we’re also going to spotlight the German publishers that are achieving success by utilizing other social platforms such as Instagram as part of their digital strategy. 

First, let’s take a look at the top publishers in terms of engagement with their web articles.

The top publishers in Germany

Compared to last year’s rankings, the top three publishers in Germany have only seen one major change in 2024, and that is NTV pushing RTL out of the third spot. 

NTV, which is actually owned by RTL, has earned more than 3.4 million engagements with its articles. Several of its biggest stories were more focused on national news, including a push to keep the streets in front of schools free of cars, and reports on record breaking temperatures in April.

Bild, a popular tabloid outlet, continues to reign as the top publisher in Germany, having earned more than 7.3 million engagements this year. The top three most engaged stories from Bild were all sports related, from a controversy around a trans darts player, to football legend Franz Beckenbauer being honored before the start of the Euros. 

Der Spiegel, an international website known for its investigative reporting, nearly made it into the top three overall, totaling 3.3 million engagements. Welt and Tagesschau were also notable contenders, both amassing over 2 million engagements. 

The top web articles in Germany

What’s especially interesting about the top ten articles overall is that only two of the top ten publishers had a story featured on this list. That was largely due to the fact that political content spiked in January, specifically with petitions, including one to deny a ban on the AfD, and contrarily, one to stop Björn Höcke (a member of AfD) from running for election. The latter of these received nearly 80k engagements. 

There was a mix of other coverage among the top ten, such as a story about a tractor farmer parade, and more reporting on the warm weather records happening this year.

Tagesschau’s Instagram dominance

In 2024, it’s not all about articles being shared, and a lot of publishers are really focusing on their Instagram and TikTok strategies for brand building and awareness. 

One of the top ten publishers has seen huge success with its reporting strategy on Instagram, and that is Tagesschau. The publisher has seen the platform be a key driver this year in terms of engagement with its posts, which consistently generate hundreds of thousands of interactions.

The biggest of these was about a demonstration that took place in Hamburg where nearly 50,000 participants came out to protest the far-right AfD. The post included several images from the day and received over 574k engagements. Other top posts included F1 driver Ralf Schumacher publicly coming out, and Joe Biden endorsing Kamala Harris for the Democratic Party’s new nominee. 

It’s also important to note that Tagesschau’s Instagram posts have often earned significantly higher engagement than its articles have this year, specifcally with carousel posts and Reels. 

German publishers have seen notable shifts and impressive engagement with their content online this year, and it’s clear just how important having a diverse digital strategy can be. As we continue to monitor these trends, we’ll be watching to see if other German publishers embrace the kind of Instagram strategy that has helped Tagesschau achieve success. 

To read more about publishers that have achieved success on Instagram, check out our blog here.