The Australian subscription streaming market has grown by almost a third over the past 12 months and is on course to overhaul pay-TV’s market share within a couple of years, according to a new report.
The annual Australian Entertainment and Media Outlook from PwC reported that Australians are willing to take on multiple SVOD subscriptions, often alongside premium box delivered subscription television, like Foxtel, in order to access the content they want.
And while SVOD is predicted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.7% between 2019 and 2023, the premium box delivered segment will decline at 5.6%; SVOD will overtake premium box in 2021.
Justin Papps, co-author of the report, told the Sydney Morning Herald: “I think it goes to the strength of streaming video on demand rather than any deficiency of a box. It’s a behavioural change from customers.”
If the box has a deficiency, it’s the need to order it and have it installed – not a requirement for smart TVs which make streaming instant and easy.
Netflix became Australia’s favourite video streaming service within weeks of its March 2015 launch and is now the dominant player, reaching more than 11 million people.
“Success for new entrants and emerging services may rely on offering consumers narrower content offerings, rather than trying to compete with Netflix’s catalogue,” the study noted.
For Foxtel this has involved splashing out on sports rights, paying A$100m year for broadcast and digital cricket rights to 2024. But now that Facebook is moving in on this territory – yesterday it announced it has signed content deals with the NRL, AFL and Cricket Australia – Foxtel may have to pay even more in future.
"We are not competing with any broadcaster or media platform,” said Facebook Australia head of sports partnerships Joyee Biswas, as he explained that the current plan is to find ways of complementing the live television viewing experience.
“The more high quality content [on Facebook] people spend a longer time on the platform engaging with that content,” he told the Herald.
The annual Australian Entertainment and Media Outlook from PwC reported that Australians are willing to take on multiple SVOD subscriptions, often alongside premium box delivered subscription television, like Foxtel, in order to access the content they want.
And while SVOD is predicted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.7% between 2019 and 2023, the premium box delivered segment will decline at 5.6%; SVOD will overtake premium box in 2021.
Justin Papps, co-author of the report, told the Sydney Morning Herald: “I think it goes to the strength of streaming video on demand rather than any deficiency of a box. It’s a behavioural change from customers.”
If the box has a deficiency, it’s the need to order it and have it installed – not a requirement for smart TVs which make streaming instant and easy.
Netflix became Australia’s favourite video streaming service within weeks of its March 2015 launch and is now the dominant player, reaching more than 11 million people.
“Success for new entrants and emerging services may rely on offering consumers narrower content offerings, rather than trying to compete with Netflix’s catalogue,” the study noted.
For Foxtel this has involved splashing out on sports rights, paying A$100m year for broadcast and digital cricket rights to 2024. But now that Facebook is moving in on this territory – yesterday it announced it has signed content deals with the NRL, AFL and Cricket Australia – Foxtel may have to pay even more in future.
"We are not competing with any broadcaster or media platform,” said Facebook Australia head of sports partnerships Joyee Biswas, as he explained that the current plan is to find ways of complementing the live television viewing experience.
“The more high quality content [on Facebook] people spend a longer time on the platform engaging with that content,” he told the Herald.
Sourced from PwC, Sydney Morning Herald; additional content by WARC staff
