Consumers prefer AVOD to SVOD

News that CNN+ is to close followed fast on the heels of Netflix announcing a decline in subscriber numbers – so has the subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD) bubble burst? Figures from Morning Consult suggest that might be the case.

Why it matters 

Morning Consult data* show that, given the choice, most consumers around the world prefer to deal with advertisements as long as they can pay less. With a cost-of-living crisis upon us and with few of the many SVOD platforms that now exist having a truly compelling USP and sufficiently deep pockets – arguably only Disney and Amazon fit into this category – the future of streaming will necessarily involve advertising, as Netflix has effectively conceded. 

Takeaways 

• Given the choice of a less expensive, ad-supported service and a more expensive, ad-free service, consumers expressing a preference always opted for the former. 
• In six countries more than half of respondents preferred ad-supported streaming services: South Korea (64%), Russia (61%), the US (57%), India (56%), France (53%) and Italy (51%).
• Germany and Spain were almost evenly divided on their preferences: 38% of Germans preferred ad-free services, compared to 39% in favour of ad-supported services, while 41% of Spanish consumers were in favour of ads and 39% wanted no ads. 
• In Japan almost half (48%) weren’t bothered either way – a far higher proportion of indifference than anywhere else.

*In early March, Morning Consult surveyed a representative sample of 999-2,211 adults in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Spain, the UK and US.

Sourced from Morning Consult, Financial Times, BBC [Image: Pexels]