BARB: U.K. SVOD Market Tops 19 Million Homes

The latest Establishment Survey from BARB shows that in Q4, the number of U.K. households with access to an SVOD service rose to 19.1 million (66.9 percent of homes), up from 18.7 million homes (65.8 percent) in Q3 2021.

Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Now TV each saw small quarterly gains. 16.8 million homes had access to Netflix in Q4 2021, an increase from 16.7 million the previous quarter, while 12.6 million homes had access to Amazon Prime Video, up from 12.5 million in Q3 2021. 2.1 million homes had Now TV, up from 2 million.

Disney+ had the largest increase in the number of homes with access to its service, up nearly 5 percent on the prior quarter: 5.5 million homes had access to Disney+ in Q4 2021, up from 5.2 million in Q3.

The number of homes that subscribe to two or more SVOD services rose to 12.4 million homes (43.3 percent) in Q4 2021, gaining from 12.3 million homes (43.1 percent) in Q3.

Justin Sampson, BARB’s chief executive, said: “We have been providing valuable insight into SVOD services since 2014, when we began reporting on the uptake of these services in our Establishment Survey.

“Last November, we took a big step forward when we upgraded our daily audience reporting to include SVOD and video-streaming services,” said Justin Sampson, BARB’s chief executive. “As well as reporting the total time spent watching these services, we deliver audience ratings for programs on Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Netflix. This is the first time audiences for streaming services are being reported with all the hallmarks of a joint-industry measurement system: independence, objectivity and transparency.”