7.5 million Australians are now watching Broadcast Video on Demand

About 7.5 million Australians now watch Broadcast Video on Demand (BVOD) services, which include ABC iView, SBS On Demand, 7plus, 9Now and 10 Play, according to new data from Roy Morgan.

Viewership of BVOD services grew strongly during the early stages of the pandemic in 2020 with an increase of around 2.1 million viewers (+39.5%) in 2020 compared to the December quarter 2019. Although this level of growth was going to be hard to maintain, over the last year an additional 130.000 viewers streamed BVOD services, an increase of 1.8% on 2020, for a total of over 7.5 million viewers (35.5%).

Notably, all five leading services have grown compared to two years ago pre-pandemic, however ABC iView and SBS On Demand grew strongly during 2020 but lost viewers during 2021. In comparison, 7plus, 9Now and 10Play have all substantially increased their viewership during each of the past two years.

ABC iView continues to be the clear market leader with 4.13 million viewers in an average four weeks, up a large 985.000 (+31.3%) from two years ago, although down 633.000 (-13.3%) on a year ago. SBS On Demand remains in second place and is now viewed by 2.86 million Australians representing an increase of 217.000 (+8.2%) from two years ago although down 653.000 (-18.6%) from a year ago.

The leader of the three traditional commercial broadcasters is the Seven Network’s 7plus, which is now viewed by 2.6 million Australians, an increase of 727.000 (+38.8%) from a year ago. Close behind are the Nine Entertainment Company’s 9Now, which is viewed by 2.38 million Australians, up 318.000 (+15.4%) on a year ago, and Network 10’s 10 Play, now viewed by 1.7 million Australians, up 358,000 (+26.7%).

“Looking forward, and with a widening array of streaming services for consumers to choose from, the competition between paid services and their free counterparts is only going to increase. The ‘boost’ provided to viewership by the unprecedented pandemic is unlikely to be repeated and securing growth going forward will depend more heavily on providing exciting and engaging content for viewers,”  commented Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan.