Download “The impact of cinema admissions on SVOD usage”

A second edition of the report “The impact of cinema admissions on SVOD usage” has just been published by the European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, authored by Jean-Augustin Tran, analyst at the Observatory. 

This report analyses the relationship between SVOD viewing and cinema admissions in 9 European Union countries.

Main findings about the impact of cinema releases on SVOD offer and performance

• All-origin films released in theaters in at least one EU country have a larger share of streaming viewing time than their respective share in SVOD catalogues. They accounted for almost two-thirds of viewing time, despite making up slightly less than half of the catalogues. Cinema releases in the Nordic countries outperform their share of the catalogues the most in terms of viewing time.
• The situation was quite different when it came to EU27 films. They accounted for almost the same proportion of viewing time as they did of the catalogue titles. In five countries, however, the share of viewing time was lower than their share of titles in the catalogues.
• While representing only 6% of the measured titles in the SVOD viewing time sample, original films commissioned by the streamers accounted for almost a quarter of the viewing time. EU27 original titles performed even better: accounting for 23% of viewing time despite representing only 3% of measured titles.

Main findings about the impact of cinema admissions on SVOD offer and performance

• There appears to be a correlation between the number of cinema admissions and viewing time. On average, films with the highest number of admissions received eleven times more viewing time than those with the lowest. This is due to the popularity of US blockbusters on SVOD platforms.
• When considered individually, regardless of their origin, most of the top 100 films in terms of admissions between 2019 and 2023 were available on the main streaming platforms, with 96% accessible online. However, few of them enjoyed comparable success. Only 12 appeared in the top 100 by viewing time, and all of these were US films.
• At country level, the number of national films in the top 100 by admissions that were available on streaming platforms dropped significantly. Of the countries compared, Spain has the highest proportion of national films from the top 100 by admissions available on SVOD, at 66%. By contrast, only two national titles from the top 100 are available on SVOD in Finland.

Average viewing time by film admissions

Average viewing time and admissions by decile, the top 10% of admissions corresponds to the first decile, films released in 1996 or later, all origins

  Other reports on VOD usage in Europe