No offense to Disney +, in France, it is Amazon Prime Video that is doing the best. Thanks to its Ligue 1 pass, the platform won over one in four households in 2021.
Like every year, the consulting firm NPA takes stock of the previous year on the side of the consumption habits of the French in terms of audiovisual. A barometer that gives us some information on the growing popularity of the various SVOD offers available in our green regions. Against all odds, it’s not Disney+ that comes out on top, but Amazon Prime Video.
If the firm with big ears records record figures around the world, Amazon is more significantly in France. According to figures shared by the firm, one in four French households would have an Amazon Prime subscription. Three-quarters of its subscribers use Prime Video.
It must be said that Amazon has a significant advantage over its competitors, the possibility of taking advantage of free 24-hour delivery on the e-commerce giant’s site. But it would be the Pass Ligue 1 in particular which would be at the origin of these excellent results. More than 1 in 6 Amazon Prime subscribers have added the L1 offer to their subscription. As a reminder, it is billed in addition to the Prime subscription, at 12.99 euros per month.
SVOD in slow motion
If 2020 was a particularly good year for the sector, 2021 rhymes with a slowdown. SVOD penetration is at its lowest level since September 2020 (49.5% compared to 49.8% at the time) and is down three points compared to the end of 2020. In France , only three platforms saw significant growth. This is the case of SALTO, no doubt propelled by the broadcasts of special programs Harry Potter and Friends, and Disney+ which is grabbing ever more market share.
Older users
SVOD is not immune to the syndrome of an aging population. As with television, these users are getting older, those under 35 are now in the minority. While industry players are betting heavily on teenage productions, led by Netflix, viewers aged 15 to 24 now represent only 15% of the overall population, compared to 27% in 2019. On the other hand, subscribers to over 50 now represents 22% compared to 12.1% in 2019.
But where have the young people gone? The answer could lie with social platforms like TikTok or Twitch, which are attracting more and more users around the world. Nevertheless, we can imagine that this year subscriptions to SVOD offers will jump, the program being rather busy. The Lord of the Rings series could thus attract a strong community of new users to Amazon Prime Video, just like Obi-Wan Kenobi at Disney+. On the Netflix side, we are particularly awaiting season 4 of Stranger Things as OCS prepares for the return of Game Of Thrones with a first spin-off.
