At the start of the Coronavirus pandemic studios began to shift what would have been in-theatre movie runs to traditional Video on Demand (VOD) and other Over-The-Top (OTT) streaming platforms.
Comscore looked at all set-top box-based VOD (including Free on Demand, Subscription Video on Demand, Transactional on Demand and Electronic Sell-Through), during the month of March 2020 there was nearly a 30% increase in average transactions per household that subscribes to VOD year-over-year – with the average subscribing household accessing, purchasing or renting 16 titles of VOD content over the course of the month. That’s nearly four more transactions per VOD subscribing household than in March 2019.
Monthly Performance All VOD Percent Change Year Over Year
Of the VOD subcategories, Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) had the highest growth, with a 53% increase in average transactions per subscribing household from March 2019 vs. March 2020. Free on Demand (FOD) was next with a 21% increase for the same time period.
Looking at the week-by-week, Comscore shows a steady upward climb for VOD in general with the week of March 29, 2020 having the highest growth for 2020 so far at +57% vs. the same week in 2019. Of the subcategories, SVOD was the standout. SVOD saw a 116% the week of March 29 from the same week in 2019, while FOD and TOD saw 38% and nearly 41% increases, respectively.
Looking at the key genres within set top VOD, Comscore shows that the largest increase for transactions in March 2020 vs. March 2019 in “Fitness” (+147%), “Life and Home” (+64%), “Premium” (+54%) (e.g., HBO, Showtime, and Starz content). Meanwhile, “Music” is down 10% for the same time period comparison.
Fitness is not surprising because all gyms have been closed for more than a month already. Sports seems odd to me because again there has been nothing live for over a month already, but I guess that people are looking at other sports they might have missed. Anything to not watch the news!
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