UK streaming subscriptions shrink as households try to cut costs – Report

The number of British households subscribing to at least one streaming service declined in the first quarter of 2022, research firm Kantar says in a new study. During this period, 1.51 million subscriptions to the SVOD service were canceled: 1.04 million in the previous quarter and 1.2 million a year ago. More than half a million cancellations were attributed to saving money.

Sing says young families have been particularly hard hit by the UK cost of living crisis, where inflation rose to 6% in the first quarter. In the three months to March 31, the penetration rate of the GenZ family streaming service decreased slightly for the first time, to 74.6% from 75.4% in the first quarter of 2020 and from a high of 75%. 8% in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Only 3% of British households signed up for a new video streaming subscription in the first quarter of 2022, down from 4.2% in the same period in 2021, when the pandemic kept more people at home. Fifty-eight percent of households (16.9 million) now have at least one paid subscription, down 215,000 from the quarter. Overall, UK households who subscribe to streaming services now have an average of 2.4.

In other findings, Cantar said Disney + quarterly growth tripled to 12% in the quarter, while that of Amazon Prime Video Richter It was the “funniest” SVOD title of the quarter, followed by Netflix Ozark Y invention of anna.

Kantar refers to both Netflix and Amazon as a “hygienic” subscription for Brits; In other words, the last place to go when families are forced to spend first and foremost. Disney, NOW, Discovery + and BritBox all recorded significant leaps quarter-over-quarter, according to a report that says SVOD service scheduled cancellations are on the rise, with a “desire to save money” driving 38% of scheduled cancellations. . Q2.

Cantar also points out that the drivers of users receiving new SVOD services continue to show specific movies / movies: in just 12 months, the number of users who claim to have signed up for the service to watch a particular program or movie has increased from 30% to 36%. . . % AppleTV + reached the highest share of subscribers in the UK, with an increase of 9.2%.

However, Cantar said in the report: “Given that many streaming services saw significant revenue growth during the height of Covid, this time around it will be sober.”