Aussie binge boom continues to grow

nbn™ network drives mass move from broadcast to ‘broadband TV’

Australia’s addiction to binge watching is showing no signs of slowing down, with new figures revealing online entertainment subscriptions are expected to more than double by 2022.

The Ovum OTT Video Forecast predicts 7 million Aussies will have a Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) service by 2022, a 270 per cent increase on the 2.6 million Australian’s who currently subscribe. It forecasts the market will generate annual revenue of approximately $1 billion by 2022, more than doubling 2016 numbers of $460 million, with SVOD services like Netflix and Stan expected to take a 70 per cent chunk of this profit.

The findings match local data from Telsyte’s 2017 Digital Consumer Study, which shows nearly half (46 per cent) of the nation has turned to the internet as their main source of entertainment, with renting or purchasing a movie or TV show decreasing by 19 per cent in the past 12 months. Netflix is the clear provider of choice (69 per cent), followed by Stan (20 per cent) and Foxtel Play (8 per cent).

nbn’s Network Traffic Data Report shows Australian homes connected to the nbn™ network are downloading more content than ever before, with the average home using 148GB of data per month, a 32 per cent increase on last year. That’s the equivalent of binging on around 150 episodes of House of Cards in a month.

Global IPTV expert and Ovum TV Practice Leader, Ed Barton said:

“The global launch of Netflix has changed the way we buy and watch entertainment forever.

“The choice and flexibility currently available to audiences to tailor their entertainment experiences across Video-On-Demand and TV is unprecedented: there has never been a better time to be a viewer.”

nbn’s Executive General Manager, Product and Pricing, Sarah Palmer said:

“Access to fast broadband is enabling the online video streaming revolution to thrive in Australia as we move from broadcast to broadband TV consumption. The significant increase in usage over the nbn™ network tells us the more bandwidth Australians have, the more content we want to consume.

“Online video services deliver a host of content that appeals to everyone in the household. Mum and dad can enjoy a guilt-free nostalgic binge on the Seinfeld box-set, while the older-kids can consume snackable content like Black Mirror, all at the same time using different devices.

“It’s important for households who stream a lot of online content to speak with their service provider and choose a plan which suits their needs so they can enjoy the best internet experience possible.”

nbn released findings from the Ovum OTT Video Forecast at today’s Australian OTT Summit at the Swissotel in Sydney.

The nbn™ network is currently available to one in three Australians, is due to be half way complete by mid-year 2017, three quarters built the following year and scheduled to be complete by 2020.

Media enquiries

Notes to editors

• Ovum OTT Video Forecast, March 2017
• nbn™ network Traffic Data Report, February 2017
• Telsyte Australian Digital Consumer Study, February 2017
• Calculations based on streaming a one hour standard definition episode, https://help.netflix.com/en/node/87