Research |
Data : ITVX premium growth accelerates
Marketing data and analytics
company Kantar has released
its latest Entertainment on
Demand ( EoD ) data on the British
streaming market , uncovering
behaviours in the VoD market
between January to
March 2023 :
VoD-enabled
households that
subscribed to at
least one video
streaming service
in Great Britain fell
to 16.10m , down
144k , quarter on
quarter , representing
55 % of households ,
compared to 16.91m
in Q1 2022 , and
16.95m in Q1 2021
Four per cent of
British households
took out at least
one new streaming
subscription in the first quarter
of the year , up from 3 % a year
earlier . Meanwhile , 7 % of
households cancelled at least one
subscription as part of their post-
Christmas ‘ subscription cull ’
The total number of video
streaming services being
subscribed to by British
households fell by 167k in the
quarter to 29.44m , with Netflix
seeing the largest absolute losses
in subscriber numbers .
The Last of Us on NOW was
the most enjoyed SVoD title ,
followed by Clarkson ’ s Farm on
Prime Video and You on Netflix
After the post-Christmas cull
of subscriptions in Q123 , the
second quarter of the year looks
to be more stable , with planned
video cancellations dropping to
6.8 % of subscription holders , a
fall both year on year and quarter
on quarter
At the end of 2022 , Kantar
data showed consumers planned
to scale back their video streaming
subscriptions in Q123 and this
played out , with 144k households
dropping out of the VoD sector
altogether and a net loss of 167k
subscriptions . However , some
services were more heavily
impacted by this trend than
others , with Prime Video showing
resilience .
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“ It ’ s often the case that consumers take out Prime Membership with Amazon in Q4 for the fast and free delivery service and at the same time utilise the Prime Video service for entertainment over the Christmas holidays , before cutting back the
next quarter ,” notes Dominic Sunnebo , global insight director , Kantar , Worldpanel Division . “ However , whilst Prime membership did drop back in Q1 , the drop was limited to just 1 per cent , significantly lower than seen during the same period a year ago and importantly engagement with Prime Video among loyal Prime Members actually increased in Q123 .”
“ The overall effect was a relatively flat Prime Video subscriber numbers , in a falling market . The release of Clarkson ’ s Farm during the quarter played a key role in engaging Prime Video subscribers , with the title the # 2 most enjoyed across all SVoD platforms during Q123 . Amazon ’ s investment in Sport also played an important role , with sporting content driving one out of every three new subscribers to Prime Video in the quarter .”
AppleTV + had a strong first quarter to 2023 , seeing the second fastest growth in absolute subscriber numbers vs . the previous quarter , only beaten by
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newly launched ITVX premium . AppleTV + took # 4 spot in terms of share of new subscribers over the quarter , with Slow Horses , a top title driving new subscriber acquisition .
“ Whilst AppleTV + continues to attract new subscribers , its growth
prospects remain somewhat hamstrung until it can get a handle on churn , which remains well above its competitive set ,” advises Sunnebo . “ The investment in British content clearly resonates with the population and AppleTV + subscribers rate the quality of programming on the service higher than any other platform . Apple ’ s challenge , however , is that it can ’ t produce new series fast enough for subscribers to feel like they ’ re getting sufficient value for money . While Apple scores top on quality on shows , it remained bottom on value for money , with the # 1 reason for cancellation being ‘ not enough new TV shows .”
ITVX , and ITVX premium , a relaunched service from ITV , replacing its existing ITVHub and ITVHub + offering , had an impressive first quarter showing . ITVX noted a jump in weekly users in Q123 vs ITVHub in Q422 ,
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along with ITVX premium gaining 5 % of new SVoD subscribers in the quarter with the incorporation of BritBox content . A Spy Among Friends helped to attract a new audience to ITVX premium and was the top title driving new subscriber acquisition in the quarter . A Year on Planet Earth , a nature programme narrated by Stephen Fry also proved popular .
As well as the variety of TV shows , the ability to watch shows without adverts was a key attraction to ITVX premium subscribers , cited by 28 % as a key reason for signing up .
The launch of Netflix cheaper adsupported price tier has helped it see a small pick-up in share of new subscribers . However , increased cancellations as its subscribers look for ways to save money diluted any significant benefit in terms of total subscriber numbers .
“ There has been no dramatic drop across most of Netflix ’ s key performance metrics , but rather , a gradual decline across almost all areas , including satisfaction with variety of TV series , amount of original content and quality of shows ,” observes Sunnebo .
“ This is further demonstrated by looking at the most enjoyed content across Britain , in the first quarter of 2023 , with just three of the top 10 most enjoyed VoD titles being on Netflix , compared to six a year ago . In addition , and perhaps the most concerning area , is that Netflix subscriber net satisfaction in value for money fell from + 31 per cent a year ago to + 22 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 . Netflix consumers are increasingly questioning the value for money they get from their subscriptions and when consumer finances remain tight , this is translating into increased churn .”
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