No streaming apocalypse, but churn rates for Stan, Binge tick higher
Media analysts have been closely watching for signs of weakness in Australia's streaming video market. New survey data won't fill them with hope.
Media investors and analysts have been closely watching for signs of weakness in Australia's streaming video market, amid fears the apocalypse in subscriptions that has hit services in the US following the COVID boom and amid a cost of living crisis could extend to local shores.
New data from a closely watched consumer survey will not fill them with hope. According to Kantar's latest Entertainment on Demand survey, cancellation rates for some of Australia's best known streaming platforms are showing no signs of abatement.
Nine Entertainment Co's Stan recorded the highest increase in cancellations among the local platforms during the period, with its churn rate hitting 15% compared to 10% in the preceding quarter. But it was far from the worst performing service on this metric with Apple TV+ suffering the highest overall rate of subscriber churn at 24%, up 8 percentage points, followed by Paramount+ at 19%, up 7 percentage points, and local player Binge, at 17%, a 2 percentage point increase.
Stan Sport offered a bright spot for the platform, with user growth of 13%, according to the survey. Most of this subscription growth was driven by interest in the Rugby World Cup, which 51% of survey respondents cited as the main reason for signing up to the service. Soccer was the second major drawcard, accounting for 11% of sign-ups.
