UK to double number of SVOD subscribers by 2024

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The UK’s increasing dependency on SVOD services has been laid bare with a new report estimating that the number of subscribers in the country is estimated to double in the next five years.

According to new figures from GlobalData, the total number of SVOD subscriptions is expected to rise from 22.4 million to 44.6 million by 2024. This growth is also reflected in market revenue which is predicted to also double from £1.5 billion in 2019 to £3 billion in 2024.

Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have largely been the dominant players in the UK market with Now TV in third, but a number of high profile launches is predicted to be a significant contributing factor to the market’s growth.

Joel Cooper, senior director, telecoms market data and intelligence at GlobalData said: “The recent launch of Disney+, Apple TV+ and BritBox provides consumers with more choice and will help propel market growth. Disney+’s impact is expected to be particularly pronounced given its brand power, breadth of premium content and low price.

“SVoD in the UK is a long way from saturation point. The market represents a clear opportunity for existing players as well as potential new entrants.”

The analyst also notes that while the ongoing coronavirus pandemic will have an economic impact on subscription services, the increasing number of users who have signed up for streamers like Netflix during the lockdown will help to maintain steady growth.

Cooper said: “Prior to COVID-19, the SVoD market in the UK was experiencing a high rate of growth, with no sign of plateauing. While there will be some impact on SVoD adoption from the economic fallout from COVID-19, GlobalData expects this to be outweighed by a combination of lockdown-driven adoption and consumer take-up of new services such as Disney+. The market is expected to experience a record-level subscription growth in 2020 on a net additions basis”.

If Netflix is anything to go by then this report looks set to be true. The leading SVOD added 15.77 million paid customers globally in the most recent quarter, though the company said it expects this to be a spike inspired by the lockdown rather than a trend that will continue.