Global Streaming Expanding to 1.64 Billion SVOD Memberships By 2026, Says Report
A new report from Digital TV Research reveals that streaming video is on track to be a big part of the planet’s life within the next five years. The report detailed that, by 2026, there will be a total of 1.64 billion streaming video-on-demand (SVOD) subscribers worldwide.
The study expects Disney+ to overtake Netflix starting in 2025. Netflix will drop to second place, adding an extra 53 million subscribers over the next five years to reach 271 million total. Disney+, thanks to its addition of [Hotstar], will make a splash in Asian countries and bring in 284 million subscribers total.
Moreover, the global expansion of SVOD is indeed about to get much more global. In 2021, China and the US accounted for a decent majority of streaming video customers, around 56 percent of the total. But by 2026, the report noted, that proportion will fall to 49 percent.
The biggest cause of the drop is China, which in recent days, has seen rapidly increasing government restrictions on streaming video platforms. Currently, the US and China have similar numbers of SVOD subscribers, according to the Digital TV Research report. However, thanks to all that government pressure, the Chinese numbers are likely to fall off in a big way. By 2026, the Chinese portion of streaming subscribers will amount to just 354 million. The United States’ numbers, meanwhile, are expected to continue growing. By 2026, the US is expected to have around 450 million subscriptions. That’s about one and a half for every man, woman, and child currently living in the United States.
It was already clear that international expansion was the order of the day. Amazon made a push to bring IMDb TV to the UK just two days ago, and Netflix Games has already rolled out new service in several parts of Europe a short time before that. The drop in Chinese streaming support is somewhat of a surprise, however, the ongoing rise in US streaming is much less of one. A [TiVo] report in August already noted the average number of streaming services users subscribe to is on the rise. That report indicated the average has more than doubled over the past five years.
The idea that that kind of growth is sustainable is a bit suspect, especially given the volatility in the job market of late. The unexpected rise of first-time jobless claims in recent weeks does not exactly bode well for streaming service uptake. However, the extra time on workers’ hands does make streaming services a bit more valuable in the process; people actually have time to watch the services to which they subscribe.
Still, even with the US’ ongoing rise in streaming services, it’s clear that streaming is about to become a much more global activity in the not-too-distant future. The changes to available content might be the biggest surprise of all in light of such a development.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”