Netflix leads the Dutch video streaming market for several years, helped by its first-mover advantage. Nevertheless, its growth is far from over, as many consumers still plan to subscribe to the service in the coming months, research by Telecompaper found. Six percent of Dutch households without a Netflix subscription plan to take one in the next six months, according to the Q2 'Video behaviour of Dutch consumers' report.
Fox Sports and Disney+ (active in the Netherlands since November 2019) can expect some near-term growth as well, the report found. SVOD services are still expanding, but the AVOD market less so in the Netherlands. This may change though with the looming recession and as more ad-supported services enter the market.
Netflix has reached 40 percent of Dutch households, but still can expand its market. Six percent of Dutch households expect to subscribe in the next six months to Netflix. The same share expects to take a Disney+ subscription, underlining the attractiveness of the newcomer on the market.
Fewer households with only Netflix as competition increases
The market is also showing more households with multiple streaming subscriptions. Half of Netflix subscribers have other subscriptions, up from a third a year ago. The change appears largely due to the arrival of Disney+ on the market: 16 percent of households subscribe to both Netflix and Disney+, and some also with other services such as Amazon Prime and Videoland.
The most popular combination, for the fifth quarter in a row, is Netflix with the local VoD provider Videoland, owned by RTL. Most Netflix subscribers still just take the single service, whereas Videoland and Disney+ are more often bundling with other services.
Fox Sports: return to subscriber growth
More consumers started getting interested in sports channels from the second quarter, when it was announced that live sports would resume in Q3. Fox Sports, which was affected the most by the lockdown measures in March to June, is especially popular among those intending to subscribe to a premium TV service in the next six months.
AVOD market set to expand?
While SVOD is becoming common in the Netherlands, ad-supported streaming services (AVOD) are still limited. The looking economic recession may change this, as consumers turn to cheaper alternatives for video streaming.
YouTube reaches around 80 percent of Dutch consumers, and the other main ad-supported services are run by broadcasters - NPO Start, RTLXL and KIJK. Videoland is also making a step towards advertising with the recent launch of a new hybrid subscription at a cheaper price, including some ads. In other markets such as the US, ad-supported services are also becoming more popular, which could eventually spread to the Netherlands.
