Netflix Leads CEE Streaming Landscape

Netflix leads the streaming landscape in Central and Eastern Europe, according to a new VideoTrack study by WPP Media, which also highlights the persistence of piracy in the region and the complex “frienemy” relationships between streamers and pay-TV operators.

Use of streaming to watch movies and series is widespread in the region, ranging from 78 percent of Romanian internet users to 87 percent of Polish users. Torrent use is also prevalent in certain markets, including the Czech Republic, where the lowest percentage of internet viewers pay for video content. The highest number of people who at least sometimes pay for watching movies, series and other types of long programs can be found in Poland.

Traditional television consumption has eroded as streaming has gained, falling by between 12 and 14 percent in Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania, and by 6 percent in Hungary. However, pay-TV penetration is still high, hovering at 90 percent in Romania and Hungary and 75 percent in Poland.

With that strong ecosystem, the WPP report points to the “frienemy” relationship between streamers and pay-TV operators. In Romania, 37 percent of internet viewers purchase streaming service subscriptions through pay TV providers. This is most prevalent among those aged 55 and up. Telco operators are also key partners for streaming services.

The percentage of active smart TV users ranges from 52 percent in the Czech Republic to 61 percent in Romania. Netflix and YouTube lead in terms of smart TV app usage across the region. Netflix is the top streamer in CEE.

“CEE is a region where global trends blend with regional specifics,” said Izabela Albrychiewicz, WPP Media’s CEO for CEE. “Paid streaming, although not everyone predicted its success here, effectively competes for customers and currently coexists harmoniously with the pay TV market. News of cord-cutting reaches us from across the ocean but isn’t reflected in the behavior of customers in the region. This preserves television consumption as such. The downward trend is milder than in Western markets. VideoTrack brings more good news for advertisers—the popularity of Smart TV and openness to advertising from global streamers, which we surveyed in the study, prove that at least part of the lost TV potential in CEE markets will be ‘recovered’ in the form of equally valuable advertising contacts in the streaming world.”