Western European SVOD Subs to Top 230 Million by 2026

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The number of SVOD subscribers in Western Europe will rise from 137 million at the end of last year to 234 million by 2026, according to data from Digital TV Research.

Netflix will remain in the lead with about 74 million subs, up from 54.2 million in 2020. Disney+ is expected to soar from 19.1 million customers last year to 55.05 million, making it the second largest platform in the region. Amazon will be not too far behind at 52.3 million Prime customers.

HBO Max is expected to have 3.3 million customers in Western Europe by 2026, the same number as Apple TV+, Digital TV Research projects. The expansion of that service is expected to begin this year within the HBO Europe footprint. The major European markets of the U.K., Germany and Italy are not part of HBO Max’s current expansion plan due to HBO’s existing output deal with Sky.

“If HBO Max started across the region’s 18 countries in 2021, we estimate that it would amass 10 million subscribers by 2026,” said Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research. “This will not happen, so its total will be 3.3 million across six countries by 2026.”