Back catalogue movies are key for UK SVoD customers

Breaking Bad

The ability to access large back catalogues of movies and TV series are the top reasons consumers sign up for subscription video-on-demand services both in the UK and the US, according to research by GfK, with movie catalogues particularly important for UK subscribers.

According to GfK, two third of UK subscribers listed access to back catalogues of movies as a reason to sign up for SVoD, compared with 58% of Americans. Accessing back catalogues of TV shows was cited by 56% of US subscribers and 50% of UK subscribers.

Other reasons cited to sign up for SVoD were to access new movies releases, cited by 47% of UK users and 44% of US customers, the ability to watch at a time that suits and the ability to watch multiple episodes of series in a row.

Breaking Bad was the most watched programme on SVoD in the UK during the 13 weeks of GfK’s survey, accounting for 11.9% of all streams, followed by Dexter and Prison Break with 4% and 3.5% respectively. In the US, House of Cards topped the list, accounting for 4.6% of streams, followed by Breaking Bad and Dexter with 4.3% and 3.8% respectively.