Comscore: 30 Percent Increase in VOD Transactions Last Month

According to new insights from Comscore, the U.S. saw a nearly 30 percent year-on-year increase in VOD transactions in March, with the average subscribing household accessing, purchasing or renting 16 titles over the course of the month.

The data measured all set-top box-based VOD, including free on-demand, SVOD, transactional on-demand and electronic sell-through. SVOD had the highest growth, with a 53 percent increase in average transactions per subscribing household in a year-on-year comparison. Free on-demand (FOD) was next with a 21 percent increase for the same time period.

Examining the key genres within set-top VOD, the largest increase for transactions year-on-year are in “Fitness” (up 147 percent), “Life and Home” (64 percent) and “Premium” (54 percent). Meanwhile, “Music” is down 10 percent for the same time period comparison.

The rise comes as millions of Americans are looking for entertainment while complying with pandemic shelter-in-place measures. “Further boosting the March 2020 VOD viewing surge is that in reaction to this unprecedented situation, studios shifted some of their big-screen content to on-demand platforms,” Comscore said.