According to a new study of the Swedish TV and streaming market from Mediavision, TV streaming subscriptions with advertising, also called HVOD, continue to grow in the Swedish streaming market. That comes as the growth of the more traditional SVOD platforms has stagnated over the past twelve months.
Nearly 400,000 Swedish households have chosen to acquire at least one streaming service that is partly financed by advertising. The Mediavision study notes that even though HVOD is a relatively new concept, growth has been nearly 40% over the last year.
"Times have been financially challenging for Swedish households in recent years, which partly explains the diminishing growth for TV streaming subscriptions," said Marie Nilsson, CEO at Mediavision said in a statement. "It is probably one of the reasons why many people appreciate the lower prices that advertising services offer."
"This development also means a redistribution in the streaming market as a whole," continued Nilsson. "In order to compensate for the lower prices, both advertising revenue and an increased number of subscribers are required. Today, several of the largest actors in Sweden offer HVOD, and Viaplay is the latest to launch such a subscription. Four out of the five largest streaming services now have HVOD as an option, and there are strong indications that more actors will follow.”
“TV advertising is something that most people are used to, so it is not surprising that streaming services also seek advertising revenue," added Nilsson. "This becomes especially important as the costs of content production and sports rights rise sharply. For the streaming market to continue to develop, greater revenues are required."