Rather than starving SVoD services of content, US media conglomerate Viacom is to develop new TV and movie content specifically for these platforms, CEO Bob Bakish has said. Viacom’s strategy differs from that of other media companies, such as Disney and Warner, who have sought to reduce SVoD services’ access to their new release and library titles to support their own SVoD offerings. Having already developed hit shows for Netflix and Amazon (13 Reasons Why for Netflix and Jack Ryan for Amazon), Viacom has announced further plans for SVoD specific content which includes the creation of reality content for Facebook Watch. This strategy reportedly stems from Viacom’s traditionally young audience swapping Viacom owned cable networks, like MTV and Comedy Central, for streaming services. Viacom has not ruled out creating its own OTT service, although CEO Bob Bakish stated in recent interviews that the streaming space is too saturated and 'capital-intensive'. The company would instead look to create ad-supported niche products focusing on different demographics.
Among the US SVoD services Amazon Prime currently hosts the greatest number of hours of content produced by Viacom, followed by Hulu and then Netflix. Hulu has the most hours of TV content produced by Viacom. This is due to an agreement made earlier in 2018, between the two companies which saw several Viacom owned series available on the streaming service. Sci-fi & fantasy content accounts for most of the Viacom content on all three services with a quarter of total hours of content made up of this genre for Amazon Prime; around a third for Hulu; and nearly 40% for Netflix. Viacom content on Hulu is more diverse than that on Amazon Prime and Netflix; 7% of total hours of Viacom content on Hulu consists of reality content. Viacom has several deals in place with companies like Netflix and Hulu to produce Nickelodeon-branded shows for these streaming services. Consequently, children & family content makes up for roughly the same proportion (around 20%) of total hours of content on all three services.
In 2018 Denmark became the second country in Western Europe in which SVoD subscriptions overtook pay TV subscriptions. The UK hit the milestone a few months earlier. This growth in SVoD has been driven by the steep uptake of Netflix, which currently makes up almost 50% of all SVoD subscriptions in Denmark. This is despite Denmark having the highest fees for Netflix of any country in the world (the standard package currently costs around $15 per month). Growth of local providers, particularly Viaplay and TV2, has also made a significant contribution to the number of SVoD subscriptions in Denmark.
Denmark’s leading pay TV provider YouSee has suffered particularly badly in recent years, with its number of subscribers decreasing 14% between 2016 and 2018. Stofa, Boxer and Viasat have also seen consistent decline in recent years. SVoD does not seem to be replacing pay TV completely. There is minimal difference in SVoD adoption among those who do and don’t take pay TV services in the country (both groups have around 70% SVoD uptake), with this having virtually no change in our four latest consumer survey waves. This may suggest SVoD is having minimal impact on the existing pay TV landscape, with these services seen by many as a supplement to pay TV rather than a replacement.
Beyond the overlap, pay TV and SVoD subscribers are somewhat distinct groups, with pay TV customers heavily skewing to older and slightly wealthier households, while SVoD users skew the other way towards considerably younger audiences. This second group accounts for most of the growth in SVoD subscriptions over the past year, though there was significant growth in SVoD subscriptions within the older demographic during 2016 and 2017, suggesting potential for continued growth in this area.
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