SVOD U.K. Gains Lead to Declines in Broadcast Viewing, DVD Sales
Subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) viewing is on the rise in the U.K., and that's leading to changes in how Brits consume video. According to a study commissioned by subscription management software company Zuora and conducted by YouGov, 27 percent of the U.K.'s adult population subscribes to an SVOD service. Of those subscribers, 43 percent say they only rarely watch broadcast television nowadays. For young adults age 25 to 34 (millennials), the number rises to 58 percent.
Young adults especially prefer subscribing to online services over buying DVD sets or subscribing to larger channel bundles: They're far more likely to subscribe to an SVOD service than cable or satellite (44 percent vs. 26 percent), while that's reversed for 45- to 54-year-olds (23 percent vs. 49 percent). Also, 30 percent of those who subscribe to a video service don't intend to ever purchase DVDs or Blu-ray Discs again.
The average U.K. SVOD user pays £17.53, while the average cable or satellite subscriber pays £60.83. The most popular SVOD services in the U.K. are Netflix (12.4 million subscribers), Sky Go (7.2 million), Amazon Video (6.7 million), and Now TV (3.1 million). Respondents most enjoy being able to watch video in a way that suits them, find new content they enjoy, and stream to multiple devices.
The SVOD results are part of Zuora's report "A Nation Subscribed: 2016 State of the U.K. Subscription Economy," available for free download (registration required).
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