Nearly nine out of 10 (86%) French people know about SVOD and a third of internet users have watched a programme on at least one platform in the past year.
According to Médiamétrie, the latter amounts to 18 million people across the country, or 5.8 million more than two years earlier. It adds that these are the first findings of its SVOD Barometer, conducted from November 7-29, prior to the coronavirus health crisis currently gripping the world.
Netflix, which continues to grow, tops the list of most used platforms in France. It is followed by Amazon Prime Video, whose market share has also grown this year. Two stakeholders appeared in 2019, namely Canal+ Séries in March and Apple TV+ on November 1.
Looking at the profile of a SVOD user, Médiamétrie says that being younger than the average internet user (33v years old compared to 43), they enjoy technology and high-tech equipment. They often own more devices than the average French person. For example, 64% of them own a video game console (compared to 44% of the population as a whole) and 40% own a smart TV (compared to 29% of the population as a whole).
As fans of content, SVOD users enjoy the diversity of the programmes offered by the different platforms. Over one in two (54%) use a SVOD service in order to access a wide range of series.
For 77% of users, TV is still the preferred screen for accessing a SVOD service. 30% of them prefer to watch SVOD on a television set exclusively. Nevertheless, seven out of 10 SVOD users also experience SVOD on a computer, a mobile phone and /or a tablet.
45% of SVOD users who own a television set subscribe to a pay-TV service (compared to 32% of the population).
SVOD is particularly popular among young people, an often volatile audience. More than one in two Millennials, aged 13-34 (59%) have watched at least one piece of content on a platform in the past year.
Médiamétrie notes that series (89%), followed by films (87%), which were watched by nearly nine out of 10 SVOD users, were the top favourite content on these platforms. Documentaries took third place, then youth programmes, which were each watched by a third of SVOD users in the last 12 months (35% and 32% respectively).
Due to the attractive content available, regular use is made of the service, with 86% of users indicating that they watch a series every week on an SVOD platform.
SVOD users, who are very eclectic in terms of the genre of films or series they watch, come together to watch action films and series, comedy (films and series), fantasy films and science fiction series, which are the four most consumed genres on the platforms.
Médiamétrie also says that SVOD attracts and highly satisfies the public, with satisfaction ratings for platforms standing at 8.3 out of 10. Subscription to the service also tends to be of a long-term nature, with 61% of SVOD users already subscribed for over a year and over nine out of 10 SVOD users considering renewing their subscription in the next six months. Although SVOD users are subscribed to 1.3 platforms on average (most often Netflix combined with another content offering), 22% of them are also considering subscribing to another platform.
The comfort of home, a modern service, quality and diversity of content are the main factors cited by users as reasons for signing up to a SVOD offer. This same service seems to discourage illegal downloads: 60% of SVOD users who partake in this practice indicated that they now do it less often.
Looking at what this year has in store, Marine Boulanger, director of cinema & entertainment at Médiamétrie, said: “France and the world have been going through an unprecedented health crisis since the beginning of the year. Confinement measures in France since March 17 have altered behaviours, particularly audiovisual ones. But what about SVOD? With the situation forcing some platforms to modify their launch schedules and others to limit the number of broadcasted programmes, how is the public reacting? Subscription, use, intention… the answer will be in the next SVOD Barometer, which will be published this July”.
