The amount of consumers with more than one SVoD subscription is continuing to rise across Europe according to new figures from Ampere Analysis.
In a survey of 33,000 internet users across 16 countries, more than half (50 per cent) of respondents in 13 of those countries had at least one SVoD service, while in 10 of the 16 markets, more than half of SVoD homes were SVoD Stackers – those taking more than one service.
Ampere’s research found that Netflix continues to be the dominant service, leading in almost all countries surveyed in terms of the number of subscribers.
Amazon Prime only beats Netflix adoption levels in Japan and Germany – and even here, Netflix is the second choice, while local players perform well in Sweden, Turkey and the Netherlands.
Breaking down their research Ampere found the following trends across Europe:
France: With one of the lowest uptakes of SVoD, Netflix and Amazon hold pole positions as French broadcaster-led services struggle to compete, hampered by strict rules and quotas. Despite these challenges, stacking is growing: one in three respondents subscribe to more than one service.
Germany: In Q3 2018, SVoD households taking more than one SVoD service overtook those taking just one for the first time in Ampere survey history.
Netherlands: Netflix adoption in SVoD homes is above 90 per cent. The launch of Amazon Prime delivery has doubled those using the SVoD service, and stacking has increased. One in three SVoD homes take two or more services.
Poland: More than half of SVoD households stack, although no package combination dominates.
Spain: Stacking has reached an all-time high in Spain, and HBO Espana has quickly become the third-ranked player after Netflix and Amazon Prime. As stacking increases, Spanish operators are increasingly integrating SVoD into their set top boxes, so this behaviour is likely to grow.
Sweden: Netflix is the most popular service, although local players are enjoying consistent growth. By Q3 2018, more than half of SVoD households had more than one subscription.
Turkey: Netflix’s local interface has boosted SVoD adoption, allowing it to co-exist happily with local services. The number of consumers taking one service is declining – three seems to be the magic number in Turkey, although none of the numerous local players is dominant.
UK: New D2C services such as ITV Hub+ have boosted SVoD stacking, with ITV Hub+ respondents subscribing to an average of 4.4 services in Q3 2018. 43 per cent of SVoD households are Solos, down from 60 per cent in Q3 2016.
