Research |
Data : UK SVoD homes hit 20m for first time
Barb has released data from its
Establishment Survey showing
that 20m UK homes ( 68.7 %)
had access to a subscription
video-on-demand ( SVoD )
service in Q2 2024 .
This is a slight increase
from 19.5m UK homes ( 67.9 %)
in Q1 , and the first time more
than 20m UK homes report
having access to an SVoD
service .
Platform breakdown :
Netflix : 17.1m UK homes
( 58.6 %) had access to Netflix in
Q2 2024 up from 16.7m ( 58 %)
in Q1 .
Prime Video : 13.7m UK homes
( 46.7 %) had access to Prime
Video in Q2 up from 13m
( 45.3 %) in Q1 .
Disney +: 7.6m UK homes
( 26.1 %) had access , in Q2 flat
compared to Q1 .
Apple TV +: 2.4m UK homes
( 8.3 %) had access in Q2 , flat
compared to Q1 .
Paramount +: 2.8m UK homes
( 9.7 %) had access in Q2 , up
from 2.6m ( 9.1 %) in Q1 .
Discovery +: 3.2m UK homes
( 11.1 %) had access in Q2 , up
from 3.1m ( 10.9 %) in Q1 .
NOW : 1.98m UK homes ( 6.8 %)
had access in Q2 , up from
1.82m ( 6.3 %) in Q1 .
Barb has again shared an
advertising tier estimate for
Netflix , alongside a first figure
for those who subscribe to the
Disney + ad tier .
The number of UK homes
on the Netflix ad tier continues
to build , reaching 2.78m ( 9.5 %)
from 2.12m ( 7.4 %) in Q1 . The
Disney + ad tier , in its eighth
month by the end of Q2 , was
present in 820k homes across
the quarter .
“ More than 20 million UK
homes have access to an SVoD
service for the first time since
Barb began collecting data in
2014 ,” notes Doug Whelpdale ,
head of insight at Barb . “ This
figure is 1.25 million higher
than in Q2 2023 – a 6.6 per
cent increase . The number
of homes with two or more
services also tipped to 14
million ( 48 per cent ) for the
first time . Building on strong
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growth in Q1 all services on
the tracker saw a quarterly
increase in the number of
homes with access . Netflix
added just under 0.9 million
homes since Q4 2023 , while
[ Prime Video ] gained almost
1.3 million in the first half of
2024 . The challenge will be to
maintain this momentum . Q3
2024 will be a key test to see if
the pure-play VoD services can
avoid the plateaus of the last
three years , but 2024 appears
to be going well for these
services so far .”
Forecast : UK E & M market to break £ 100bn in 2024
The UK is forecast to have
the largest entertainment
and media market in Europe
– overtaking Germany –
from 2025 , according to
PwC ’ s Global
Entertainment
& Media ( E & M )
Outlook 2024-2028 .
UK E & M revenue is
expected to break
the £ 100 billion
(€ 117bn ) barrier
this year before
growing to £ 121
billion by 2028 at a
compound annual
growth rate of 4 %.
“ The UK
entertainment &
media industry
has always been
at the forefront
of technological disruption ,”
advises Mary Shelton Rose ,
partner and UK Technology ,
media and telecoms leader
at PwC . “ To capitalise on the
many growth opportunities ,
it must leverage the power
of new and emerging
technologies such as GenAI , reshape
its business and creative
models , and better leverage
technology for advertising .”
Despite the anticipated
slow recovery from a flat
2023 , ongoing technology
disruption and increased
industry competition , the UK
is expected to be the fastest
growing E & M market in
Western Europe .
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The UK ’ s OTT market is the largest in Western Europe and the third largest globally in terms of revenue , after the US and China . Streaming service usage and consumer uptake is rising , albeit at a lower rate than in recent years , as service-providers face increased competition and challenges in getting consumers to pay for more services . While the volume of OTT video subscriptions per household grew at a 20 % CAGR 2019-24 , this is expected to slow to a 3 % CAGR 2024-28 . UK subscriptions to OTT video services will rise to £ 8.3 billion in 2028 from £ 6.5 billion in 2024- representing a 6 % CAGR . This plateauing effect is pushing leading streamers to reshape their business models and find new revenues beyond subscriptions , including the
introduction of ad-based variants ( reduced subscription fees with ad-filled content ), cracking down on password sharing , introduction of live sports , and industry consolidation . By 2028 , advertising will account for 30 % of UK OTT streaming revenues , up from 24 % in 2024 .
“ Despite the OTT market being extremely competitive and mature , revenue has expanded rapidly in recent years with the market nearly doubling in size since 2020 – thanks in part to the accelerated growth experienced during the
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pandemic ,” notes Ben Bird , entertainment and media sector leader at PwC UK . “ Prices have risen for several major platforms and despite the difficult macroeconomic environment , the market has continued to flourish . Operators are leveraging their content rights and original productions to boost take up , leaving consumers needing to subscribe to multiple services or rotate platforms to access the content they desire , such as sports streaming with English Premier League football spread across three different streaming platforms . The option to have ad-supported plans is also driving growth , in some cases offering the chance to subscribe for slightly less .”
To facilitate this rapid growth in the UK digital economy , the Service sector ( internet Access )
will scale from £ 28 billion this year to £ 32 billion by 2028 , providing the necessary infrastructure for increasing digital consumption . Mobile Service revenue will continue to drive growth and by 2028 will account for more than half of total Service sector revenue . In particular , social networking , video streaming and gaming data consumption is forecast to grow over 20 % CAGR 2024- 28 , driving significant demand for mobile data reflected in an almost tripling of 5G mobile subscriptions from 36 million to almost 100 million as infrastructure roll out completes .
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