?? The era of streaming wars is on!

The new streaming age of tele-vision arrived this 2020.

Every major media company is launching its own service, and licensing much less of their best stuff to Netflix.

Covid-19 curated favourable market conditions for the launch of Disney+. It achieved 16.8% market share in just one month, hugely surpassing original forecasts set by Ofcom. Preceding the pandemic, Netflix had growth concerns that subscriptions would plateau.

The subscription video on demand (SVOD) market subscription battle became intense faster than anticipated. But not all new habits last. Linear TV viewing has already dropped back down to 2019 levels, so what does the future hold for SVOD? Will short-term successes sustain? Or, as disposable cash comes under more scrutiny, have we hit a subscription ceiling?

According to #deloitte, consumers subscribe to an average of three paid-for platforms, which presents a challenge for the sector as availability outstrips demand. 

There are billions and billions of pounds of ad investment up for grabs, not just the ￡3.8bn of TV revenue, but the likes of Google, Facebook, and gaming all have a slice of the pie that SVOD platforms could make a grab for. With this sizeable carrot, and the likelihood of post-pandemic subscription growth coming to an end, now is the time for the SVOD giants to think beyond their subscription base. Deloitte reports that millennials combine paid and free streaming video to piece together the content they want.

Brands should now also be thinking about how to better utilise the AV ecosystem, exploring new entrants and the role they play in the consumer journey.

SVOD platforms might be winning when it comes to driving awareness scores, but surely that isn’t enough anymore...

#lesleysalazar