Advanced Television

Sweden: SVoDs losing €75m per year to account sharing

August 31, 2023

In Sweden, close to 1.4 million SVoD subscriptions were shared outside the paying household at the turn of the year according to research by Mediavision.

Almost half of everyone with a SVoD subscription in the country shares at least one subscription with someone outside the household. If sharing was stopped, the SVoD market could potentially grow up to 16 per cent compared to today. The number of subscriptions would then increase from today’s 7.3 million to 8.7 million. Based on average household spend on stand-alone streaming subscriptions, Mediavision estimates the lost revenue has a value of close to SEK 900 million (€75.9m) per year (excluding VAT).

Netflix was the first streamer to take actions on account sharing, but Disney+ is also reviewing its sharing policy. For the companies, the hope is that this will accelerate growth, especially in households that have already shown interest in the services. But Mediavision’s analysis also points to risks. A ban on sharing may mean that some paying households actually leave the service all together.“Almost half of all SVoD households in Sweden share at least one subscription outside the household, which shows how widespread the phenomenon is,” commented Marie Nilsson, CEO of Mediavision. Many have made a habit of this and if the households are ‘forced’ to prioritise, the risk of services being opted out increases. However, it is likely that all actors will review password sharing, which will possibly lead to both increased customer movement and more customers for the SVoD services.”

Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, Premium, Research, VOD

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