The shocking drop of 200,000 subscribers reported by Netflix in the first quarter is part of a larger slowdown in the streaming market, particularly in the U.S., according to new data from Kantar On Demand.
Kantar found that first quarter subscription VOD penetration was down slightly at 81.4% compared to 81.6% in the fourth quarter.
Netflix penetration was down 0.3% in Q1, following a 0.5% decline in Q4. Amazon Prime Video was down 3.2%, Apple TV Plus dropped 15.6%, Discovery Plus was off 3.8% and Paramount Plus dipped 0.6%.
At the same time, the average number of subscriptions consumers pay for levelled off at 3.7.
Kantar found that ad-supported VOD services were still growing, but growth is slower than last quarter. Penetration is now 25.3%, vs 24.4% in Q4 and 20.8% in Q3.
Positive news for streaming is that planned cancellations are down, with 4% planning to cancel services, down from 5% in the fourth quarter.
Saving money is still the #1 reason given for cancellation, but it has not significantly driven a greater proportion of cancellations this quarter. Instead, content is more likely to drive cancellation particularly when subscribers sign up to watch a specific series or film, and then cancel. They also cancel if they find it too hard to find the content they want to watch.
The price-driven cancellations are linked to Netflix for raising its prices and to Apple TV Plus because a free trial ended for many subscribers. ■
