SVOD subscriptions in the Western Europe region are set to double to over 197 million by 2025, up from 88 million at end of 2019, with the coronavirus lockdown providing a major boost, according to new data from Digital TV Research.
The impact of Covid-19 and the lockdowns in the vast majority of the countries of this territory are evident in these numbers – in 2020 alone, about 45 million SVOD subscribers will be added.
Netflix is expected to remain the largest pan-regional SVOD platform, with 67.7 million paying subscribers by 2025. The streaming giant will add 24 million subs from 2019, according to the report.
On the other hand, Disney+, which will be available in most Western European countries by mid-2020, forecasts to have 57.54 million paying subscribers in the region by 2025.
“The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have had two major effects on Western European OTT – a surge in SVOD subscriptions and a loss in advertiser confidence, which will result in lower AVOD growth for 2020,” said Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research. “Netflix reported impressive first quarter results and the newly-launched Disney+ has enjoyed great success. Crucial for the SVOD platforms will be retaining subscribers after the lockdown is lifted – and to attract new ones,” he added.
On the possibility that new additions signed up during the lockdown may churn later, Murray admitted that this was a danger, particularly given the freeze on new production, but added that Disney+ was likely to fare relatively well in any case.
“The danger is that subscribers will watch so much of one platform’s library during lockdown that they will unsubscribe if they feel that there is little left for them to watch. This will affect Disney+ less as its younger audience will watch the same content multiple times. Older audiences to the other platforms always want new content, which may be difficult to achieve especially given the production suspension during lockdown,” he concluded.
The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have had two major effects on Western European OTT – a surge in SVOD subscriptions and a loss in advertiser confidence” Simon Murray Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research
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