Australia: Online video spend up 22%
March 11, 2014
Australian consumers spent 22 per cent more on digital video services during 2013 over the previous year, as more online retail services started to become available.
The country spent $143 million on online VoD services such as Quickflix, and buying TV shows and movies through online stores through the like iTunes, up from $117 million during 2012.
The figures, released by the Australian Home Entertainment Distributors Association, come amidst rumours of imminent new entrants into the online video space from international players Netflix, Hulu and Virgin.
“It really has only taken off in the last few years in terms of a new platform of consumption,” said Simon Bush, chief executive of AHEDA. “We had 30 per cent increase [in 2012] … it will continue to grow but won’t completely replace the losses we had in the physical business.”
Although the number of transactions rose 15 per cent during 2013, revenue climbed faster as consumers bought movies. Australians now buy as much as they rent from digital services, according to the data, though the most popular service by far comes from VoD movies.
The data does not include ongoing subscriptions to online services.
Though revenues were bolstered slightly by the introduction last year of UltraViolet,, Bush said the vast majority of consumer spend continued to be on services like the iTunes Store.
“I think the projections are it will continue to grow nicely for the next few years,” he said. “What will be interesting is the arrival of new subscription video-on-demand offerings. If and when that happens I think you’ll see another upsurge.”