Subscription video on demand services, SVOD, exist in most Nordic households today. However, in line with the market approaching maturity, growth has diminished, and competition has intensified. Going forward, this could prompt more actors to offer cheaper subscriptions with advertisements, i.e., HVOD (hybrid video on demand). When Mediavision asks the customers, interest for this kind of service is high in all Nordic countries.

Today, there are approximately 17 million SVOD subscriptions on the Nordic market, distributed over slightly more than seven million households. If today’s customers were to decide, a little more four million of those subscriptions would be converted into cheaper subscriptions with advertisements. This is concluded in Mediavision’s recently published analysis of the Nordic TV and streaming market. Further, the analysis shows that lower pricing could generate additional, new subscriptions – both in existing SVOD households and among those that have not yet signed up for an SVOD subscription. In total, this would expand the market.

So far, a relatively small number of households pay for a subscription service partly financed by advertising in the Nordics. Currently, this kind of service is mainly offered by legacy businesses within the TV-industry, e.g., Danish and Norwegian TV 2 Play, Finnish Ruutu Plus and Discovery Plus.

– Interest in subscriptions partly financed by advertising is especially high among households paying for several subscriptions. Expectedly, the analysis shows that pricing plays an important role in consumers’ willingness to sign up for a subscription, comments Marie Nilsson, CEO of Mediavision. Increasing price sensitivity among consumers in times of economic uncertainty does not come as a surprise either. Hence, cheaper subscriptions partly financed by advertising appears to be a viable route for SVOD actors to induce further growth. Mediavision’s conclusion is that new hybrid offerings could have a successful future in the Nordics.

This spring, households in Norway pay an average of NOK 602 per month for TV and streaming content. This is concluded in Mediavision’s new analysis of the Norwegian media market. It means that household spend on TV and streaming has grown 3 percent, compared to the corresponding period last year. Above all, what drives the paid market today is the households’ big appetite for streaming services, also known as “SVOD”. In the last year, households have acquired more streaming subscriptions, which is the explanation behind the growth, rather than general price increases. It is also clear that the streaming market in Norway, as in the rest of the Nordic, is increasingly driven by the operators’ packages, so-called “bundles”.

Today, Norway holds the Nordic record in average number of SVOD subscriptions per household and there are no signs of growth slowing down in the upcoming months. Mediavision’s analysis of the Norwegian media market shows the opposite – many households intend to acquire even more services. If the households’ plans to cancel (churn) are combined with the plans to take on new subscriptions (acquisition), the result is continued growth over the next 12-month period. This is despite a generally weakened household economy with increased interest rates and general inflation. Overall, 70 percent of Norwegian households have a paid streaming service today and, on average, a streaming household pays for 2.6 services. Netflix has the most customers, followed by TV2 Play.

– Households’ appetite for media, and in particular streaming, remains high, says Fredrik Liljeqvist, senior analyst at Mediavision. We see this in all the Nordic countries, but households in Norway remain at the top. It is also important to point out that the growth in spend is the result of a higher demand from more households and for more services, so not driven by increased prices (yet).