Whether it be the continuous COVID-19 pandemic, with its multiple variants, keeping consumers inside their homes; the launch of new, affordable streaming services; or top platforms spending billions on original content, there are multiple reasons as to why so many viewers are hoarding subscription plans like twenty-somethings and their video game collections.
According to Hub Entertainment Research, 2021 ended with 40% of consumers using three or more of the top five SVOD services, which are Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max. Which is up from 28% just a year ago.
Across all linear and online TV, VOD, AVOD, and FAST channels, there are about six TV sources used per person in 2021. The number has sky rocketed in the past year, double the amount of sources used in 2018.
Jon Giegengack, the founder of Hub, said in a statement, “As the TV experience evolves, SVOD ‘stacking’ has more impact than perhaps anything else… Viewers are excited about the vast amount of content to choose from. But they need an efficient way to manage all those platforms, which creates an opportunity for aggregators. And for those creating and marketing shows, the competition for each slice of disposable time is tighter than ever.”
While each of these platforms offers thousands of titles to select from — an excessive amount of TV shows and movies that the average person would never be able to complete — the fact that so many people are using five or more streaming services indicates just how tight the competition for viewership has become.
Newer streaming services like Bally Sports and Globi as well as future services such as the one from Discovery Warner Bros., will widen the competition even further and have more and more consumers becoming overwhelmed with content or on the lookout for the best of the best service there is, bundling multiple subscription plans to their heart’s content. Either way, 2022 is definitely not the end of the streaming wars. Quite frankly, it’s only getting hotter.