According to analysts, Germany is predicted to overtake the UK in subscriptions to streaming services by the end of 2023, with the gap between the two countries growing from then on.
According to Digital TV Research, Western Europe is forecast to have 273 million SVoD subscriptions by 2029, up from 210 million by end-2023.
From the 63 million additions, the UK will contribute 6 million, Germany 12 million, Spain 9 million, Italy 10 million and France 11 million.
Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “The UK is the most mature SVoD market in Western Europe. Germany, France, Italy and Spain will each add more subscriptions than the UK over coming years.”
Murray tells TVBEurope he believes the cost of living crisis in the UK will have an impact on SVoD subscriptions, although he thinks with people spending more time at home they will need to be entertained.
“Although there is still some SVoD growth in the UK it’s not going to be huge,” he adds. “There are few launches of new platforms. Germany has some catching up to do on the UK in terms of market maturity – plus it has 15-20 million more people!”
