Although “Money Heist” was the most popular show during the third quarter of the year, and “Squid Game” is expected to take the lead in the fourth one, Netflix was unable to overcome Amazon Prime Video in the top spot of Kantar’s analysis of the UK’s subscription video-on-demand market in Q3 2021.
Amazon Prime Video had the single largest share of new subscribers during the period, and has been steadily gaining market penetration, which can partly be attributed to its acquisition of sporting rights. According to Kantar, in Q3 its subscribers tuned in to see the latest adventures on “Clarkson’s Farm” and to enjoy Amazon Originals such as “Nine Perfect Strangers”. This has also led Amazon Prime Video to experience an increase in satisfaction for the number of new release films, new content and value for money.
On the other hand, Netflix’s “Money Heist” was the top recommended show by friends and family to SVOD subscribers. Therefore, it featured amongst the top three enjoyed content for Q3 across all the main SVOD service subscribers. Over the last few weeks, Netflix also experienced record-breaking viewership figures thanks to “Squid Game,” while Disney+’s “Loki” also made a notable impact.
Kantar’s “Entertainment on Demand” research also noted that from July to September 2021, original and exclusive sports content continued to drive growth for SVOD services. According to the researcher, while the number of households subscribing to at least one service remained stable, new programming has helped providers cement their place in consumers’ homes.
In detail, the number of VOD-enabled households that subscribed to at least one video service in the UK remained stable at 16.7 million, representing 57% of households. However, just 2.9% of SVOD households in Great Britain took out a new subscription in the third quarter of 2021, up from the previous quarter. Stacked subscriptions were up 3% year-on-year as new services enter the increasingly crowded market.
“We know that Netflix performs well when it comes to word of mouth, as it has the highest proportion of new subscribers who say they spoke to friends/ family or tested the service with them prior to sign up. However, data collected to the end of September shows Amazon Prime Video remained number one for growth. Many streaming services have had a busy quarter, particularly those with sports rights agreements who harnessed opportunities with major tournaments such as the delayed 2020 UEFA European Football Championship and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. As we look towards the end of 2021, it will be interesting to see which of these titans can make the biggest impact on new subscriber shares in Q4,” said Beth Shears, Global Client Manager at Kantar, Worldpanel Division.