The consequences of the Corona outbreak are substantial for almost all actors in the media industry. Very shortly, Mediavision will release the Nordic Q1 analyses and the impact of the pandemic on the media industry and its’ consumers will of course be in focus. Today we want to give a preview by looking at TVOD. Could some of the effects of the crisis actually be beneficial for certain actors? Will TVOD services surge as more movies premiere online?

Last year, global box office revenue set a new record of 42.5 Billion USD according to Comscore. The beginning of 2020 has seen a dramatic downfall in both cinema visits and ticket revenues in the Nordics, as elsewhere. In Sweden, visits decreased by 96% at the end of March (week 13). This past weekend we were reached by the news that AMC – Americas largest movie theater chain – is filing for Chapter 11 (a form of bankruptcy that involves reorganization of business, debts and assets).

In an attempt of damage control, distributors have moved several top tier premieres online, including “Emma” and “The Invisible Man” by Universal and “Ghostbusters” by Sony Pictures. This strategy seems to be paying off, or at least giving the studios a possibility to recoup some of their investments. Last week, Universal decided to skip the theatrical window and make DreamWorks Animation’s “Trolls World Tour” available via premium TVOD-services for $19.99 (48h rental). According to Universal, the picture had the biggest online opening day and opening weekend ever. Several major Nordic premiers are now made available for rental online, including “Catwalk” and “Pelle Svanslös”. 

Q1 data 2020 from Mediavision confirms that also Nordic consumers, in this case Swedish, have an increasing interest in TVOD. However, and important to point at, the interest is growing all through the first quarter – not only the last couple of weeks. The number of Swedish households using TVOD to purchase or rent content an average month is increasing by 12% YOY. This may indicate both an underlying trend as well as a short-term shift, caused by a world-wide lock-down. During the spring, we will continue to closely monitor also how the market and its consumers are affected by cancelled or postponed productions.