• by Wayne Friedman , July 18, 2018

Global subscriptons to OTT services will grow 24% this year, according to eMarketer.

The media researcher says 10.2% of the global population -- and 32.1% of digital video viewers worldwide -- nearly 765 million people will use a subscription over-the-top (OTT) video service at least once per month this year.

Helping this trend, consumers will continue to drop traditional pay TV packages, notes the researcher. Some 13% of U.S. homes are estimated to be “cord-cutters” this year. But this will be less so globally. In Europe and Asia-Pacific, cable services are more affordable.

Netflix continues to dominate OTT worldwide. It has a 44% share among subscription OTT video service users globally. The U.S. remains its biggest contributor.

Netflix enjoys 65% of user penetration of digital users in the U.S.; individuals of any age watch Netflix at least once per month.

In general, Nordic countries also have high Netflix penetration when it comes to digital users: Norway (62.4%); Denmark (54.9%); and Sweden (50.2%).

Other countries: Canada (56.3%); Netherlands (43.6%); Australia (42.7%); Finland (39.7%); Germany (35.5%); and Spain (29.0%).