Netflix shows resilience as British households embrace streaming choices

Kantar Worldpanel’s latest “Entertainment on Demand (EOD)” data on the Great British streaming market uncovered that 7% of British households took out a new streaming subscription in the second quarter of the year, up from 5% a year earlier, with Discovery+, Disney+, and Apple TV+ seeing the fastest growth in subscriber share over the period.

Despite Netflix’s password sharing crackdown, next quarter’s planned cancellation rates only saw a mild increase to 4% from 3%. Netflix’s “The Night Agent” proved the standout favorite title this quarter in Great Britain and was the number most viewed title surpassing highly acclaimed series such as “The Mandalorian,” “Succession,” and “Ted Lasso.”

Netflix also retained its dominance in overall viewing time, with almost half of subscribers accessing the service daily. A signal of Netflix’s strong foundation in British households is that 52% of those with an SVOD subscription turn to Netflix first when they are looking to find a new series or film to watch. Prime Video trails a distant second, with just 13% turning to Amazon’s streaming service when looking for inspiration.

Despite this popularity, Kantar noted that only 3/10 of the most enjoyed titles this quarter were Netflix releases. This trend underscores the fact that Great Britain households are diversifying their content preferences, embracing a wider range of offerings from other streaming services, notably Apple TV+ and Disney+, which were once viewed as supplementary. In an ever-changing landscape where content choices abound, households are increasingly exploring beyond the boundaries of a single service.

At the same time, considering that newly released shows are cited as the number one driver of new service adoption, the usual buzz surrounding the latest shows will undoubtedly experience a notable shift. According to Kantar, streaming services will face the immediate challenge of reshaping their priorities by implementing revised content release strategies and prominently featuring library content to retain their subscriber bases, which have already been strained by the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Therefore, Kantar Worldpanel expects to see the trend of releasing series episodes on a weekly basis accelerate. A delicate balance will be crucial to keep viewers engaged and satisfied during this challenging period – a balance that will prove easier to manage for services that have sizeable back catalogues, like Netflix and Disney+, Kantar Worldpanel assured.

“Streaming services will face a delicate balance to keep viewers engaged and satisfied during this challenging period, without necessarily having a plethora of fresh content to entice them with. A shift in content release strategies and a focus on back catalogues will be crucial to weather the storm. Moreover, we observe that Netflix has shown resilience in the face of changing industry dynamics, but households are diversifying their content preferences, exploring offerings from other streaming services like Apple TV+ and Disney+. With the cost of living crisis showing little sign of abating, it is those services that can demonstrate the most value that are likely to emerge as clear winners,”  said Dominic Sunnebo, Global Business Unit and Commercial Director at Kantar Worldpanel.