Pandemic to cause SVOD numbers to jump up by 5%

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SVOD services around the world are set to see a 5% uptick in subscriber numbers by the end of the year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

In light of entire nations being shut indoors for what is expected to be a period of weeks, if months, Strategy Analytics has adjusted its global subscriptions forecast. The research firm now estimates that SVOD services will have 949 million paid users by the end of 2020, an increase of 47 million from pre-coronavirus forecasts.

The report goes on to predict that paid SVOD subscriptions will grow by 621 million between 2019 and 2025, to reach 1.43 billion.

Michael Goodman, director of TV and media strategies at Strategy Analytics, said: “In the near term the Coronavirus will actually boost SVOD subscriptions, as well as viewing of these services, as an ever growing number of consumers adopt social distancing or are forced into quarantine. In the mid-to-long term much depends on the length of the pandemic and resulting economic damage. As businesses shut down and individuals are laid off consumers are going to have to make hard decisions about how they spend their money and as wonderful as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and other SVOD services may be, they are not essential services.”

China and the US currently make up 65% of SVOD subscribers, but the firm expects these to approach market saturation along with growth in markets like Southeast Asia. As a result, the market share of the two countries will dip to 55% in 2025.

China will remain the largest market by 2025, with a projected 438 million subscribers, up from 131 million in 2019. The US will take second place with 342 million subscriptions, up from a 2019-end total of 125 million.

Goodman said: “With nearly three-quarters of US TV households subscribing to one or more SVOD service the U.S. SVOD market is becoming saturated. But with US SVOD households continuing to add additional services such as CBS All Access, Disney+, and the soon-to-launch HBO Max the total number of SVOD subscriptions in the US will continue to grow.”