Omdia: U.K. Streaming Up Despite Cost of Living Increase

Despite cost of living increases, the number of people in the U.K. paying for video services has increased by 11 percent in the last year, according to new research from Omdia.

Maria Rua Aguete, senior director at Omdia, presented the findings at the Connected TV Summit, noting that Britons are opting to cut other expenses rather than home entertainment. About 80 percent of U.K. homes have an online subscription at present. YouTube and BBC iPlayer are the leading online services in the U.K., while Netflix remains out front as the biggest SVOD platform with 15.5 million subs. Per Omdia, Prime Video has 10 million subscribers and Disney+ 7.5 million. The average home is paying for 2.6 subscription services (2 SVOD, 0.6 pay TV).

Omdia also reports a significant increase in churn rates; 45 percent more subscription video services were canceled in the last 12 months. While overall there were 20 percent more consumers cancelling their services compared to last year, the number of services cancelled and resubscribed to in the last 12 months has grown by 84 percent. Growth in subs was led by Disney+ (21 percent), NOW TV (18 percent), Netflix (8 percent) and Prime Video (5 percent.).

Omdia expects Netflix to maintain its edge in the U.K. market. “With the lowest churn rate across all streaming video services and highest lifetime value per costumer, Netflix will continue and surpass Disney by 2026,” Aguete said.