Nearly 20% of U.K. broadband households use Netflix

Nearly 20% of U.K. broadband households use Netflix OTT service

New research from Parks Associates indicates that 18% of U.K. broadband households have used paid-service Netflix in the past 30 days, compared to 20% who used the free iTV Player and 33% who used the free iPlayer to stream video programming. Overall 58% of U.K. broadband households used a video streaming service or player within the past 30 days.

“The results in the U.K. and in other European markets show that paid OTT video streaming services are now a fixture in this video entertainment landscape,” said Brett Sappington, Director, Research, Parks Associates. “The fact that a growing number of consumers are willing to pay for subscription services when there are free options, like iPlayer and other broadcaster-based sites or apps, shows strong appetite for video among consumers. Netflix, the clear leader in the U.S., entered Europe with high expectations. Subscriber growth has been slow in several parts of Europe, but with no dominant leaders in subscription services, Netflix and other entrants are gaining a foothold. For example, Amazon Instant Video had the highest rate of usage in Germany with 17% of broadband households, and Netflix was second at 6%.”

The firm’s Connected Consumer in Europe reveals increasing adoption of Internet-connected CE and a parallel growth trend in viewing online content through these various connected devices. Among broadband households, 57% in the U.K., Germany, Spain, and France own at least one Internet-connected CE device (smart TV, smart Blu-ray player, PVR, gaming console, or streaming media device), and roughly that same percentage watch Internet video on an Internet-connected device across all four countries.

“Growth in new streaming video services exploded in the U.S., and we are starting to see the same in Europe, with new companies introducing on-demand and live streaming services,” Sappington said. “OTT providers both established and new, including content producers, pay-TV providers, broadcasters, and CE manufacturers, have plenty of room to grow.”

Connected Consumer in Europe includes nationwide surveys of broadband households in the U.K., France, Germany, and Spain.

Parks Associates follows the North American OTT market through the firm’s OTT Video Market Tracker, an ongoing research service with monthly and quarterly updates that monitors OTT services and tracks content and subscriber counts for OTT video services. The firm will launch a European version of its OTT market tracking service in early 2016, with comprehensive industry tracking and insights into new trends and services, including discovery and analysis of new OTT video service players.