Around 6 months ago, Kantar suggested that the US video streaming market may have reached “peak stacking.” The past couple of quarters have put that idea on ice, though, as stacking has again reached a new high, according to the latest figures.
On average, US households accessed 5.2 video streaming services during the third quarter the year, up from 5.0 in the previous quarter. A year earlier, in Q3 2021, households were accessing an average of 4.2 services; over the past year, then, they’ve added an extra service to the mix.
It’s likely that that service is an ad-supported one, per the latest data. While subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) service penetration dipped from the previous quarter, that wasn’t the case for other service types. Paid ad-supported (AVoD) penetration grew by a percentage point to 28% penetration, while free, ad-supported (FAST) service penetration was also up by a percentage point to 24%.
This may be due to cost sensitivities. In fact, the majority of Netflix’s cancellations in Q3 were the result of either wanting to save money or higher prices.
Recent survey results [download page] from Quantilope indicate that US adults are more likely to be considering cutting streaming video service subscriptions such as Netflix and Disney+ to save money than other types of paid services including music streaming.
On the plus side for Netflix, this suggests that its new ad-supported tier will find traction.
Other Quick Hits
- The share of US households with any type of video streaming service dropped slightly to 83% in Q3.
- Cable TV only lost about a quarter of a million subscribers in Q3, a significant improvement from a loss of 1 million in Q2. That left cable TV penetration at 55% for the quarter.
- Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Showtime were the only SVoD platforms that shed subscribers in Q3.
- Despite that, Amazon Prime (14% share) narrowly edged out Paramount+ (13% share) in gaining the largest share of new US video streaming subscribers.
- Apple TV+ enjoyed a strong quarter, up to a market share of 10%, while Paramount+ grew to 14% share. Both benefited from specific content driving sign-ups, though Kantar notes that this puts them at risk of greater churn once subscribers have finished watching the desired program.
- Netflix’s market share fell to 61% in Q3, down from 66% in the year-earlier period.
