Couple of months ago Squid Game broke the internet and no matter where you went online everyone seemed to be bonkers about it. Like it choke-slammed Kim Jong Un or something.
Squid Game was a cool show that wasn’t a product of some huge NBC or CBS or some other big media broadcast but from Netflix!
A small company that started in 1997 with the sole purpose to show Blockbuster ‘we can do this so much better than you guys’ and which now has approx. 222 million paying subscribers!
Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ are few of the many subscription-based on-demand video content streaming services that have begun taking over cable TV and inarguably are the future of entertainment.
That above sentence hints that the answer is yes. Yes, the streaming industry is growing. And at a rapid rate too.
And now, before we start unloading with facts after facts why streaming industry is about to overtake traditional entertainment methods, here are the few key takeaways about streaming industry growth:
- The global video streaming market is currently valued at $419 Billion.
- It is expected to reach near $932 Billion by 2028.
- It will exhibit the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21%.
- Most of the revenue in Video Streaming in 2022 will be generated by US ($36,517 Million)
- The average revenue per user (ARPU) is expected to reach $69.49 in 2022.
- The revenue growth rate in 2022 is expected to be at 16.4%
A Brief History of Video Streaming Services
In the middle of 2000s when 360p was HD, when every unemployed youth in US was trying to talk to ghosts and your uncle was still acceptable at family gatherings, YouTube came into existence.
Its success gave Netflix an idea to launch internet based streaming service instead of renting out DVDs.
At the same time (circs 2006) Amazon Prime was launched and BBC let loose its own streaming service iPlayer in 2007.
YouTube’s fame although paved way for all the biggest and primary players in streaming services but it took years before they all picked up some considerable pace.
Major thing happened in 2013, when ‘House of Cards’ from Netflix Original wowed everyone in US. Till then every streaming service gave either old TV shows and movies or provided user generated contents.
Netflix changed the game by developing its own content for its subscribers. Then with the overwhelming success of shows like Narcos, Orange is the New Black and Stranger Things Netflix began cementing its root.
This made other services like Amazon and Hulu come up with their own original shows. You know that Simpsons episode where everyone started printing their own newspaper inspired by Lisa’s?
Yeah, everyone started creating their own awesome TV shows which have been giving food to the meme makers since, sporadically. And this in turn enlarged the streaming market.
Now, there are streaming services that are dime a dozen and they are all seeing success at some level. ‘success at some level’ – don’t overlook the importance of that sentence because this means if you do honest business here, then it’s the most fail-safe industry right now.
Streaming Industry Growth Stats 2022 That Prove It’s Rising at a Breakneck Speed
With the rise of the technology in our phones and broadband and data speed we are seeing the birth of neo tradition of accessing entertainment. Here are a few crystal-clear facts that tell as it is:
Fast Subscribers
The pandemic was bad and this curse still hasn’t lifted but it also did a few good things for us. Like trying to make us all stop and gave a cold and serious look at ourselves.
And maybe not to do exactly that we all joined various streaming services ASAP. Netflix gained 36 million new subscribers in 2020 alone.
Disney+ also gained a whole lot of new subscriptions, it now has 116 million subscribers which is way more than both Paramount Plus (47 million subscribers) and Hulu (43.8 million subscribers).
New Subscribers
Netflix, the biggest name in Streaming Services holds the biggest number in having most paying subscriptions with 213 million subscribers. Amazon Prime Video comes at a close second with 200 million subscribers.
Disney Content Budget
In 2021, it is reported that Disney spent approximately $25 billion on its content. And it is expected that this year Disney is about to spend $33 billion on generating and publicizing its content.
Netflix, the biggest streaming service company only spends $17 billion which isn’t less but compared to Disney’s budget, it’s half.
Constant Increase
According to a report published by Conviva, people have started to use streaming services more frequently from Q3 2020 to Q3 2021. That’s a 21% increase in overall streaming.
Africa is showing huge increase in streaming services usage, its increase rate is 273% more than previous recording.
Reality And Expectation
Back in 2019, the report from Grand View Research showed that Global Streaming Market was worth only $42.6 billion. Right now in 2021, it is at $419 billion!
Can you see the difference in just 2 freaking years! And what’s more it is estimated that by the end of 2028 this market will touch over $900 billion.
Netflix Performance
Netflix is the pivot by which we see the possible up and down of the streaming market. The revenue for Netflix at Q4 2021 was more than $7 billion. This was an 16% increase compared to the previous year.
This means that the pandemic thing was a massive push to streaming market but on its own it is still rising at a great pace and only shows more promises.
One Day Subscribers
Estimations suggested that Disney+ would take months to gather around 8 million subscribers and then may reach to 18 million by the end of 2020.
And this was an estimate from pros, people who do these kinds of logical and concrete predictions based on past performance, company reputation and market environment and get paid for that.
Disney+ gained 10 million subscriptions on the first day of its release!
If you are known for quality content there is no reason for you to be afraid in getting into streaming business!
USA, USA, USA!
Folks, it’s official, USA is the leading market in all of video streaming services. Nearly 80% of all US households are subscribed to at least one streaming service according to the 15th edition of Deloitte’s Digital Media Trends Survey.
The same report also says that subscribers in the US have made their accounts with an average of four different streaming services. Almost half of US folks are paying both for their TVs and their subscription streaming services (43%).
Look, people don’t shy away from spending on quality entertainment, if you are providing them that, you are only going to make money for ever and ever.
Streaming Time
Even before the pandemic hit us, the streaming time had started to increase. In Q4 2019 the average streaming time increased by 58%. This figure was collected from USA and Europe with 63% and 64% increases respectively.
Quality Content
Deloitte reports that one of the biggest reasons for people to subscribe to any streaming service is the quality content which they can’t find elsewhere.
57% of people cited this as the biggest reason for subscribing to something. While 71% of millennials said that quality content made them subscribe for more.
Live TV
Around 60% of all US young adults use some kind of streaming service to watch live TV instead of you know, regular TV. Live video streaming, Live TV and reporting, Live discussions are watched 10 to 20 times more by folks than on-demand videos.
Please let that sink in, it’s cold out there.
Final Verdict
The arrival of 5G, the much more powerful broadbands and data speed, the ease of internet access and more powerful phones, the restrictions caused by pandemic itself and of course the memes, they all created the proper atmosphere for the growth of video streaming services.
And even though we are gaining back our past lives as they were before the pandemic, things are sure not to remain like before.
More and more people have started to realize it is far more effective and practical to use streaming for entertainment than regular cord methods.
Cord cable doesn’t seem to be perishing so quickly but streaming services are sure to grow exponentially so long they keep providing quality and unique content experience that people can’t find from regular TV.
Conclusion
The growth of streaming services seems to be rising in top speed and can be deemed unstoppable but soon it will reach its peak at least in the US and other developed countries unless larger markets like China and India are given proper attention.
But hey, who says no to boobs and blood when they tie in nicely with a logical plot, I know I don’t, do you?
