Analyst: Amazon targets Australian SVoD market
October 2, 2019
Australia has the sixth highest household SVoD household penetration globally. In recent research, Ampere Analysis predicts that SVoD household penetration in Australia will reach 65 per cent by the end of 2019, making it an extremely attractive market to streamers. Amazon, in particular, has been aggressively targeting the market here to meet growing subscriber demand. However, with Disney selecting Australia as one of the first four international markets for its direct-to-consumer streaming launches, there’s definitely going to be competition from both local and global players.
Amazon aggressively targets Australia, ramping up content hours
Although Netflix in Australia has by far the largest catalogue of the four main SVoD players, it recorded the lowest growth in content hours between June 2018 and June 2019. In contrast, Amazon is aggressively targeting the Australian market, increasing content hours by 84 per cent in the same period – compared to Netflix’s 18 per cent.
Netflix has far fewer Australian originals than in other top 10 international markets
Netflix is the largest SVoD player in the Australian market, and Australia is in Netflix’s top 10 international markets in terms of subscriber numbers. However, Ampere’s analysis shows that it is seriously underweight for original productions compared to other large markets. 17 local original productions have been produced or are in production or development, compared to 36 in Mexico and 30 in France.
Amazon focuses on Documentary, Action & Adventure, Crime & Thriller and Reality
In Australia, the favourite genres of SVoD homes skew towards Indie & Arthouse, Horror, Arts & Culture, Kids, Romance and Action, and away from Documentaries. Amazon’s largest growth genres are Documentary, Action & Adventure and Crime & Thriller, with Reality emerging as a focus. Netflix on the other hand significantly increased its Romance, Crime & Thriller, Comedy and Drama content. Stan’s biggest growth by content hours was in the Children & Family category.
“The Australian SVoD market is characterised by transition and opportunity, so it’s not surprising that Amazon has been concentrating efforts here,” notes Guy Bisson, Director at Ampere Analysis. “Viewers’ genre preferences are wide and varied, from Indie & Arthouse to Romance and Action, and there are plenty of opportunities for adding more acquired and original content. The new service from Disney will meet the demand for Children & Family and Action & Adventure content in particular, and by developing a family of streaming services, it will be a ‘super aggregator’. We believe this trend will continue, anticipating that the gap we’ve identified in the market for a premium streaming aggregator will be filled by partnerships, original productions and acquisitions. This is a great time to be a viewer in Australia.”