The year-over-year increase in
global subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) subscriptions as of Q3 2020 reached 217.6 million, beating the previous record of 211.7 million in Q4 2018, reports Strategy Analytics.
The annual
increase grew for the third quarter in a row, after declining for the previous four quarters from Q1 2019 thru Q4 2019, according to the firm’s Global VOD Service Competitor Review for Q3, which
attributes the trend to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the popularity of the now year-old Disney+ service.
Based on analysis of 21 leading global SVOD services, the report found
that subscriptions reached 769.8 million in Q3 2020, compared to 552.1 million a year earlier.
The annual increase of 217.6 million represents a growth rate of 28.3% and suggests that the SVOD
market is still a long way from reaching maturity.
The report notes that major services such as Disney+ continue to expand geographically and the potential for SVOD in many countries is still
largely untapped.
“Until early 2020, it looked like the SVOD growth curve was heading toward a plateau, but the annual growth rate has actually been accelerating during the past twelve
months,” says Michael Goodman, director, TV and media strategies. “Netflix of course remains the clear leader, but its share of subscriptions has been falling steadily as new entrants
arrive. Disney’s rapid growth has helped it reach the No. 2 position in subscriptions, and with its various D2C services, it has already reached an annual revenue run rate of $5.8
billion.”