It’s full stream ahead Australia’s crowded videostreaming market is about to get even more competitive, writes
Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson
psychological thriller, Servant, from M. Night Shyamalan.
The impressive launch slate all but guarantees Australian viewers will add the new service in droves, Telsyte managing director Foad Fadaghi says, but it probably won’t win Apple the top streaming spot. Telstye’s Entertainment Subscription Study found more than 12.3 million Australians had subscribed to video-on-demand services by the end of June – 2.8 million more than last year. because of the titles they have and the franchises they own. Other providers might find it more difficult.”
Disney+ is expected to launch on November 19 with new titles from Marvel, Star Wars, and franchises including Monsters Inc and Frozen.
Fadaghi says Apple is “in a similar position to Amazon,” in that both companies are starting from scratch, forced to invest in original content to draw in viewers rather than a catalogue of old hits, and must keep creating compelling content to keep viewers hooked. That could take four of five solid, original shows to keep Aussies watching, he says, and many viewers are willing to subscribe to multiple services if they get the mix right.
“Our research shows that Australians’ appetite for consuming multiple streaming services is really high,” he says.
“Many people say they don’t have a set limit to how many services they will subscribe to – it just comes down to the content that’s available.”
More than half of all Australian households subscribe to at least one streaming service, Telstye found, and 43 per cent now use more than one provider.
THE PRICE IS RIGHT
The price of streaming ranges from $8 to $35 a month, and viewers are justifying multiple services by comparing them to what they paid for older technology.
“A good way to look at it is a few years ago a customer might have spend the equivalent amount of money on DVDs over a year,” he says.
But Fusion Strategy media analyst Steve Allen argues some viewers will use the arrival of Apple TV+ and Disney+ to reassess just what they’re paying for and what they’re willing to set aside time to watch. “There’s going to be a squeeze play – people are not going to continue to subscribe to every service even though these are modest amounts per month,” he says. “The catalyst will be the new
Apple TV+
What to watch:
Price: $7.99 per month Bonuses: Up to six screens, HD content, seven-day trial, one year free for Apple iPhone, iPod, TV, or Mac buyers, free for student Apple Music users.
Disney+
What to watch:
Price: $8.99
Bonuses: Up to four screens at no extra cost, HD and 4K streaming, seven-day trial.
Kayo
What to watch: Summer of cricket (every men’s and women’s international), Rugby World Cup, AFL, rugby league, A-League soccer, horse racing, surfing, mixed martial arts, Supercars, Formula One.
Price: $25-$35 per month Bonuses: Up to three screens at once, HD content, 14-day trial.
Netflix
What to watch: entrants. People will think, ‘I’m not using that as much as I thought I would’ and realise when their subscriptions no longer add up.”
Savvy viewers, he says, may wait until several compelling TV shows hit a service and subscribe to it for a few months before swapping alliances.
But for some, the choices are already proving too much.
Deloitte lead technology partner Kimberly Chang says the sheer breadth of entertainment content offered by services including Kayo, Hayu, Tubi, Mubi, and YouTube was creating confusion in the market.
Deloitte’s Media Consumer
Price: $9.99-$19.99 per month Bonuses: Up to four screens, HD and 4K with top plans, 30day trial.
Foxtel Now
What to watch:
Price: $25 per month plus additional packs
Bonuses: HD content, 10-day trial.
Stan
What to watch:
Price: $10-$17 per month Bonuses: Up to four screens, HD and 4K with top plans, 30day trial.
Amazon Prime Video
What to watch:
Survey of more than 2000 people found almost half of all viewers found it difficult to know “what content is on what service,” Chang says, and most wanted to be able to search for all shows in one place rather than darting between apps.
“Consumers are continuing to have to manage an increasingly complex content environment,” she says.
“This puts the organisation or platform that can offer a true aggregation option in a very strong position to win over consumers and drive high user satisfaction.”
Efforts to create the illusive one-box-to-rule-them-all gadget include pay-TV
Price: $6.99 per month Bonuses: Up to three screens, some 4K content, 30-day trial, Amazon shipping benefits.
Hayu
What to watch: provider Foxtel, which now offers Netflix, ABC and SBS alongside its own services on some iQ set-top boxes; Telstra, which lets users access multiple services in its Telstra TV 2 box; and Apple‘s own TV device, which allows cross-platform searches. Allen says Aussie audiences are also increasing their time in front of the TV.
“Our calculation is that the average adult now has about 56 hours of active and passive media consumption per week,” he says. “It was 52 hours a decade ago. It’s gone up by a couple of hours thanks to these streaming services.”