Up to 25% of users of paid video-on-demand (SVOD) services in the Czech Republic do not pay for them and use shared accounts with friends or acquaintances, according to data from the Atmedia Index research, which is regularly carried out by media representative Atmedia. The most used paid VoD services on the Czech market have long been Netflix, Voyo, HBO Max, Disney+ and prima+.
Pavel Müller, Head of Research & Marketing at Atmedia, said: "Paid VoD services such as Netflix, HBO Max or Disney+ are watched at least several times a month by 2.8 million Czechs aged 15-69, with one user using an average of 2.3 services at a time. So we are talking about roughly 6.5 million accounts or accesses to paid VoD services.”
Users pay for a full two-thirds of the accesses directly to the service provider, while another 12% are paid for through one of the pay-TV operators that offer pay video services to their customers alongside dozens of TV stations. However, another part of the accesses are those for which users do not pay. "Their users pay for 78% of the accesses to SVoD services, but then there is one fifth of the accesses for which users do not pay and watch content for free through accounts shared with friends or acquaintances," explained Müller. He went on to explain that this phenomenon often represents a fairly significant loss in subscription revenue for individual players with paid video services. "While one of the top five players in the Czech market had 14% of such users in the second half of last year, another had a full quarter," he mentioned.
Users of paid VOD services most often share their accounts in groups of two, but groups of five or more are no exception. For some streaming services, up to 15% of those who share accounts report sharing one account with five or more people. However, just because some users access content on paid VOD services through shared accounts does not mean that they watch shows and movies completely free. Roughly half of them contribute to their friends' subscriptions, usually in the high tens of crowns per month. On the other hand, users who pay for paid VOD services directly to the service provider and therefore do not use shared accounts spent an average of CZK 334 per month for them in the second half of last year. The highest amount was spent on Netflix.
The issue of shared accounts is faced by global players with paid video libraries around the world. One example is Netflix, which announced in 2023 that more than 100 million households will share their account with other users. The number of subscribers alone was over 230 million at the time. Netflix therefore decided to fight against shared accounts and came up with the option of sharing accounts outside the household for an additional fee. Other global players are taking a similar step, with Disney+ gradually introducing the end of password sharing in individual markets, and Warner Bros. Discovery with its streaming service Max.