Sharp rise in subscriptions to SVOD services has ‘little impact on pay TV’

Netflix is the biggest SVOD service by subscriber base in the UK, with 1 in 10 internet users having a subscription. Much of this is driven by its free 30 day trial (only 60% are paid subscribers, compared to Lovefilm’s 71%).

However, Decipher’s research – a bi-annual tracker of 3,000 UK consumers – shows that only 5% of homes have cancelled or reduced their pay TV subscription as a result of their SVOD subscription.

Director of Decipher Media Research Dr. Hamish McPharlin, said: “These findings indicate that UK audiences don’t necessarily opt for the ‘either/or’ approach to accessing their favourite content, and many choose to invest in a range of services and devices to get what they want.”

The survey also showed that audiences for online VOD services such as BBC iPlayer and ITV Player have not grown since February, having enjoyed a relentless increase in penetration for many years until then.