The streaming giant that is Netflix has seen huge success in the two short months since its Australian launch, locking in over ten times the amount of subscriptions held by its nearest competitors.
Roy Morgan Research’s latest Streaming Video On Demand (SVOD) data revealed approximately 1,039,000 Aussies in 408,000 households had signed up to Netflix by the month of May. The U.S. streaming company launched in Australia on March 24, and had taken in subscriptions from 766,000 Aussies in 296,000 homes over the next month alone.
The 1 million-plus Aussies subscribed to Netflix in May more than overshadows the numbers seen by locally owned competitors. May saw Presto holding 97,000 subscribers, Stan came in with 91,000, and Quickflix and Foxtel Play rounded out the country’s top five streaming TV subscription services with 43,000 and 40,000 respectively.
While the subscription numbers are clearly in Netflix’s favour, Roy Morgan Research General Manager of Media Tim Martin says that bundled services are ensuring that competition is still alive.
“Over 5 million Australians live in a household subscribed to Foxtel, whether directly or as bundled with other services through a telecommunications provider such as Telstra or Optus—and this currently includes around 300,000 Netflix subscribers,” Mr Martin said.
More Australians are deciding to take on multiple services. Mr Martin points out that up to half of the subscribers on board Stan, Quickflix or Presto are also signed up with Netflix. The free introductory month offered is being cited as a possible incentive behind multiple sign ups.
“But it also might not be an either-or proposition,” Mr Martin added.
“As each has different content available, many Australian TV lovers may choose to subscribe to multiple SVOD providers, switching between Orange is the New Black on Netflix, Better Call Saul on Stan, the HBO back catalogue on Presto and a new release movie (or delayed Game of Thrones marathon) on Quickflix.”
