The figures – which are taken from Kantar’s latest Entertainment on Demand study – analyse the British video-on-demand market during Q4. The study also found that ad tiers were responsible for two-thirds of new subscribers to Netflix.
Why ad-supported VoD matters
The growth of ad-supported streaming services is partly a story about economics. When the service was still fairly new, people could pay for one or two streaming services they really wanted. But there are only so many subscriptions people can and will pay for today – and that makes the cheaper ad tier increasingly attractive.
It’s a win for the streaming services, too, as it helps pay for additional content that is more expensive to acquire, such as live sport. Prime Video has bet big on this – it acquired the rights to some Premier League and Champions League football games – and it appears to be paying off as cancellations of the service hit a low (just 4.2% in Q1 2025, down on last year).
These dedicated sports audiences are also highly attractive to advertisers, who have to work harder to reach high volumes of people in an era of media fragmentation.
Q4 streaming figures and insights
- Prime Video had the highest share of new paying subscribers in Q4, overtaking the spot occupied by Apple TV+, which came second; Disney+ came third.
- Prime Video reached a peak market share of 21.1%, significantly up from the 15.4% market share it had in Q4 2023.
- 69% of new Netflix subscribers (11.5% in Q4 2024, up from 10.1% a year ago) chose the ad-supported option.
- 61% of Netflix subscribers, who also pay for other services, said it was the most important VoD service in their household.
- 19.6m British households had at least one paid video streaming service.
“British viewing behaviour is showing noticeable shifts, with increased retention rates suggesting that the pressures of the cost-of-living crisis are starting to ease and brand loyalty is returning. At the same time, the greater allocation of household budgets towards entertainment could also indicate that streaming services are successfully improving their services, finding the right balance between quality content, diverse programming and pricing”
added Dominic Sunnebo, Global Insight Director, Kantar.
Source: warc.com
