Denmark: HVOD, live sports and password crackdown to boost streaming’s growth

Cheaper SVOD packages with advertising, combined with a crackdown of password sharing, are measures that may boost growth once again in the Danish SVOD market, according to a research by Mediavision. According to the company, this market is stable and shows clear signs of saturation: both penetration and number of subscriptions per household, i.e. stacking, are stable in Q1. Live sports on streaming services could also help increase consumer interest ahead.

The Danish streaming market showcases stability during the first quarter of 2024. Household penetration of direct-to-consumer services remains at roughly 65%, which equals approximately 1.7 million households. Stacking (number of paid streaming subscriptions per household) in Denmark is stable at just shy of three subscriptions per household. In total, Danish households today have 4.5 million paid streaming subscriptions. The market has saturated over the last two years. At the same time, competition over the consumers has increased considerably. The economy has weakened and affected not only the households but also the media industry, leading to a current trend of reduced supply of new local Danish content.

However, there are various signs of change ahead. Several industry actors are currently taking measures to boost growth. By limiting account sharing and introducing lower-priced ad-supported plans (“HVOD”), Mediavision predicts that the overall streaming market’s revenue will grow during 2024. Another driving force is that several streamers are getting into live sports. This move will partly be financed by advertising, which will be an essential revenue stream for the industry going forward.

“The current stable market in Denmark was expected,” commented Fredrik Liljeqvist, senior analyst at Mediavision. “But looking ahead we expect growth, following the overall economic development as well as new strategies in the industry. It is also obvious that global streamers are increasing both their market shares and share of viewing. This is undeniably a challenge for local services in Denmark, and in the Nordics as a whole.”