Australia: Disney+ 1.8m subs in 3 months
March 31, 2020
Data from research firm Roy Morgan reveals Disney+ is now Australia’s fourth most popular subscription television service, just months after its launch. When it comes to multiple streaming subscriptions, Netflix plus Stan is the most popular combination.
Netflix remains by far the nation’s most watched subscription television service, with 12.2 million Australians having access to it, an increase of 942,000 on a year ago. It is followed by Foxtel on 4.85 million (-98,000) and Stan on 3.70 million (+1.09 million).
Disney+, which only entered the Australian market in November 2019, now reaches 1.8 million viewers, placing it in fourth position ahead of Amazon Prime Video on 1.48 million (+914,000) and YouTube Premium on 1.48 million (+244,000).
This new data comes from Roy Morgan Single Source, Australia’s most comprehensive consumer survey, derived from in-depth face-to-face interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year.
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that while Netflix is the clear leader in subscription television services, there is growing competition to secure the attention of Australian viewers. “Since entering the Australian market in 2015, Netflix has reshaped how we watch television. It created a product which allows users to make their own selection of uninterrupted television to watch whenever they want. Its success not only brought other players into the market, it forced commercial television to adapt by creating its own online streaming channels.”
“Subscription television services continue to grow in Australia. Over the past year, an additional 893,000 people gained access to a streaming service in their household. All subscription television services have experienced an increase in viewers over the last year with the exception of Foxtel, which dropped by around 100,000 compared with a year ago.”
“Disney+ is the latest provider in the market, and it appears to have landed with a bang,” she noted. “Despite only being available since last November, it has already secured around 1.8 million viewers, nearly half the current viewership of Stan. The current Covid-19 pandemic, which has forced many Australians to self-isolate at home indefinitely, presents an unexpected opportunity for streaming companies such as Disney+ to continue the momentum of customer growth in the months ahead.”
Netflix plus Stan is the most popular subscription television combination, with 3.44 million viewers having access to both services and closely followed by Netflix plus Foxtel (3.14 million).
The Disney+ SVoD service has attracted an impressive audience in only a few months and 1.67 million Disney+ viewers also have access to Netflix. This represents 93 per cent of the Disney+ viewership but only 14 per cent of Netflix viewers.
Nearly 900,000 Australians have access to both Disney+ and the locally-owned Stan. This level of viewership is equal to half of all Disney+ viewers and represents nearly a quarter of Stan’s 3.7 million viewers. A far higher rate than for rival streaming service Netflix.
Significantly for traditional pay-TV service Foxtel, only 11 per cent of its viewers have signed up for the new Disney+ streaming service – a lower rate than for either Netflix or Stan.
“It’s becoming increasingly common for viewers to have access to multiple pay television services,” Levine advised. “Of the major pay television providers, Disney+ is most commonly paired with Netflix and Stan, and thus far there has been a lower take-up by Foxtel customers. Roy Morgan data offers deep-dive insights as to why people prefer particular subscription television services, and which others they are likely to pair it with.”