The number of households enjoying video on demand services in England, Scotland and Wales remain stable at 16.7 million, according to Kantar.
However, the number of stacked (additional) subscriptions continues to grow with 2.9% of SVOD households taking out a further sub in Q3, an increase on the previous quarter.
Netflix’s Money Heist was the top enjoyed title in Q3, followed by Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime Video and Loki on Disney+. The much-hyped Squid Game was not released until September 17, so its impact will be felt in the next quarter.
Amazon Prime Video had the single largest share of the new subscriber market in Q3 and has been steadily gaining market penetration, which can partly be attributed to its acquisition of sporting rights. The company has a handful of Premier League games, but its acquisition of tennis rights has proved fruitful, following the success of British players Emma Raducanu and Cameron Norrie. Subscribers have also been watching former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson’s agricultural failings in Clarkson’s Farm and drama Nine Perfect Strangers.
“We know that Netflix performs well when it comes to word of mouth, as it has the highest proportion of new subscribers who say they spoke to friends/ family or tested the service with them prior to sign up. However, data collected to the end of September shows Amazon Prime Video remained number one for growth,” said Beth Shears, Global Client Manager at Kantar, Worldpanel Division.
Discovery+, which secured a 3.3% share of new subscriber households last quarter has partnered with Sky to provide customers with a 12-month free version of the service. Vodafone pay monthly UK customers can also currently add a 6-month free trial of the streaming service to their bill. The result is that 48% of Discovery+ subscribers are currently using a free trial/ version, compared to the market average of 4.7%.
The challenge for the streamer will be to convert these into paying subscribers as these initial sweetheart deals expire.
