Australian Streaming Market Faces Turbulence Amid Subscriber Shake-Ups
Simon-Kucher’s 2024 Global Streaming Study reveals that streaming services face unprecedented demand for unique content opportunities
[Sydney, July 10, 2024] – Simon-Kucher, a leading global growth consultancy, has released its 2024 Global Streaming Study. Showing increased screentime and more subscriptions per user, the study finds that the Australian streaming market remains strong. Significant shifts are visible in subscription dynamics and content preferences.
“Streaming is at a fascinating crossroads,” said Chris Petzoldt, Managing Director Simon-Kucher Oceania. “Number of subscriptions per person increased by 22 percent in Australia but budgets declined. While there’s still appetite for streaming services, a significant share of subscribers feel that they spend too much on streaming and that they have too many streaming subscriptions. Despite slower growth, the increase in paid subscriptions and demand for unique content creates a real opportunity for providers to innovate and differentiate themselves.”
Key Findings:
Growth Trends:
- The Australian streaming market is still expanding, but at a slower pace. Five percentage points fewer users are increasing their streaming consumption compared to last year’s study.
- Paid subscriptions now account for 62 percent of streaming time. This is up by 13 percentage points from last year. Use of free online services has decreased by seven percentage points.
- In Australia, 39 percent of subscribers plan to cancel at least one subscription in the next 12 months. More than half of respondents who intend to churn gave a content-related reason.
Social Media Impact:
- 31 percent of Australian respondents replace potential streaming time with social media. This rises to 44 percent among 18 – 39-year-olds.
- When it comes to the appeal of social media, short-form content is streaming’s biggest competitor -- 38 percent of respondents say they find it as entertaining as streaming series or movies.
Subscription Dynamics:
- The average number of streaming subscriptions per person in Australia rose from 2.5 to 3.1. Part of this rise is likely the result of password-sharing restrictions implemented by major players like Netflix.
- ‘Subscription fatigue’ is significant, as 39 percent of Australian subscribers feel that they have too many subscriptions. In line with US, Mexican, Swedish, and Singaporean streamers, respondents from Australia are particularly vocal about how they spend too much money on too many streaming providers.
Market Differentiation:
- Broad content selection remains the most important value driver.
- Most Australian streaming providers are perceived similarly in value and price, with only Foxtel Now being perceived as overpriced. Content can provide a competitive edge and serve as a primary differentiator for providers.
Commercial Levers:
- There has been significant growth in the number of subscribers on ad-supported packages, and there is scope to optimise how advertising is served to subscribers on these packages. Additionally, ad-supported packages remain an effective lever to prevent churn of price sensitive subscribers, even more so when advertisements are personalised.
- Adding gaming to streaming packages would be attractive to certain streamer segments, with 23 percent of subscribers stating they would be more inclined to sign-up for a streaming service subscription if games were included.
“The streaming landscape is continuously evolving, and content remains the primary differentiator,” added Petzoldt. “Providers must strategically adapt to these trends. They need robust content offerings capitalising on new commercial levers to stay competitive and cater to shifting consumer preferences.”
Complete study findings are available upon request, including country splits.
*About the Study: The Global Streaming Study 2024 was conducted April - May 2024 by the global consultancy Simon-Kucher. More than 12,000 consumers from across 12 countries (Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, UK, US) were surveyed on their streaming behaviors and preferences.
Rachel Pope
rachel.pope@simon-kucher.com
Simon-Kucher is a global consultancy with more than 2,000 employees in 30 countries. Our sole focus is on unlocking better growth that drives measurable revenue and profit for our clients. We achieve this by optimizing every lever of their commercial strategy – product, price, innovation, marketing, and sales – based on deep insights into what customers want and value. With nearly 40 years of experience in monetization topics of all kinds, we are regarded as the world’s leading pricing and growth specialist.
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