Data from audience research body BARB says the number of UK households subscribing to at least one streaming service has fallen. Again.
BARB’s Establishment Survey has found 19.08 million homes had access to a streaming video-on-demand service during the first three months of the year. That’s 67.4% of homes. But the figure has fallen 1.7% from 19.42 million at the end of 2022. In early 2022, almost 20 million UK homes had access to a subscription streaming service.
The survey found Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video were the biggest losers, while NOW and Apple TV+ could still record gains in subscriber numbers.
Winners and losers
(Quarterly comparison Q1 2023 v Q4 2022. UK homes with access)
- Netflix: 16.96 million homes 🔽 DOWN 1.1% from 17.15 million homes
- Prime Video: 12.90 million homes 🔽 DOWN 1.7% from 13.12 million homes.
- Disney+: 7.14 million homes 🔽 DOWN 1.9% from 7.28 million homes.
- NOW: 2.03 million homes 🔼 UP 8% from 1.88 million.
- Apple TV+: 1.91 million homes 🔼 UP 13% from 1.69 million.
Smaller subscription services aren’t captured by the survey.
The troubles affecting the streaming industry are well-known, with Netflix attempting to retain users with cheaper ad-free access.
And the battle to retain subscribers and grow isn’t just restricted to the UK. In the USA, Comcast’s Peacock last week began offering a limited offer $19.99 annual subscription to its service.
Marc Thornham