Australian SVOD subscriber base swells to 2.7m

The Australian subscription video on demand (SVOD) market is continuing to grow at a blistering pace, with active subscriptions on track to reach 2.7 million by the end of June, Telsyte estimates.

The research firm calculates that the market has grown 46% over the past year, with the average number of SVOD subscriptions per household growing to 1.7 from 1.5 over the same period.

Currently, nearly half (43%) of households subscribe to either pay TV or SVOD services, Telsyte said, up 4% from the previous year.

The SVOD market is on pace to overtake the pay TV market by active subscribers by June 2019, by which time there will be around 4.1 million SVOD customers, Telsyte said.

Overall SVOD revenues have meanwhile grown by around 40% over the past 12 months, with market leaders Netflix, Stan and Presto accounting for around 85% of all paid subscriptions.

The top three providers have started competing more aggressively for content rights deals in response to the growing demand, with local players Stan and Presto growing at a faster rate than Netflix over the past 12 months.

Telsyte research shows that SVOD subscribers are twice as likely to own a 4K TV than non-subscribers, and one in four express an interest in video delivered through virtual reality headsets.

“New services such as VR and 4K streaming could redefine SVOD services — especially for sports related content — and have the potential to lift monthly spend,” Telsyte managing director Foad Fadaghi said.

Image courtesy of Brian Cantoni under CC