In 2022, the number of cinema visits in Sweden is still 5.5 million lower than 2019, the year before Covid. This is shown by statistics from the Swedish Cinema Owners Association. Buying or renting video online, TVOD, on the other hand, grew strongly in Sweden last year. Close to 30 percent of Swedish households have rented or bought content this way an average month in 2022. This is a new record for TVOD in Sweden.

An average month in 2022, 28 percent of the Swedish households rented or bought TVOD content. TVOD is an abbreviation of “transactional video on demand”, which is the digital streaming service for what used to be “video rental store”. Compared to 2021, TVOD has grown with 15 percent which is a new record level. This also means that household spend on TVOD has increased by nearly six percent compared to 2021. This is shown in Mediavision’s latest analysis of the Swedish TV & Streaming market.

The average monthly spend for households that bought/rented video online was SEK 145 in 2022. Movies is what most households rent, unlike other paid streaming services where series is the most popular content.

– Although cinema seems to be recovering, it is still some far from the numbers before the pandemic. For TVOD, on the other hand, 2022 meant record growth. The fact that many major titles were launched on subscription SVOD services (such as Netflix, Viaplay or Disney) during last year does not seem to have had a negative impact on the development, comments Marie Nilsson, CEO at Mediavision. Consumers clearly appreciate the digital rental services and, unlike cinema, they do not seem to think that the supply has been negatively affected by the pandemic.