New data from Roy Morgan shows 8.6 million Australians now watch Broadcast Video on Demand (BVOD) services which include ABC iView, SBS On Demand, 7plus, 9Now and 10 Play, reports the research company.
Morgan estimates all five leading FTA BVOD services have grown significantly during 2020 as Australians endured a nation-wide lockdown from late March until early June and Victorians experienced a second, longer, lockdown soon after.
8.6 million Australians (40.6%) now view at least one of the BVOD services in an average four weeks and ABC iView is the clear market leader with 5.13 million viewers, up a large 2.12 million (+70.7%) from a year ago.
SBS On Demand is in a clear second place and now viewed by 4.08 million Australians in an average four weeks representing an increase of 1.49 million (+57.6%) from a year ago.
However, the fastest growth over the last year has been for the traditional commercial broadcasters Seven, Nine and 10 which have all more than doubled their viewership.
The leader of the three is the Seven Network’s 7plus which is now viewed by 2.68 million Australians, an increase of 1.5 million (+125.8%) from a year ago.
Close behind is the Nine Entertainment Company’s 9Now which is viewed by 2.49 million Australians, up 1.25 million (+101%) on a year ago and Network 10’s 10 Play now viewed by 2.29 million Australians, up 1.41 million (+159.6%).
This new data comes from Roy Morgan Single Source consumer survey, derived from in-depth interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year.
Coinciding with the recent release of the Morgan survey data, is the OzTAM share data for summer. The OzTAM audience numbers reveal Seven took the crown in prime time with a total people network commercial summer share of 36.9%, ahead of Nine Network on 36.2% and Network 10 on 26.9%. Seven was also #1 in 16 to 39s and grew its audience share in that age group by 1.8 points over the summer months.
From 6.00am to midnight, Seven scored a total people commercial share of 40.3%, ahead of Nine on 35.8% and 10 on 23.9%, and ranked #1 in 25 to 54s and 16 to 39s.
Across the summer, 7plus was the #1 commercial free to air BVOD service, securing a share of 40.6%, ahead of 9Now on 40.2% and 10play on 19.2%. 7plus’ growth far outstripped the competition, growing viewership 49% year-on-year, compared to 35% for 10play and just 4% for 9Now.
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine (pictured below) says the lockdown during 2020 provided a big boost to subscription TV and this growth has also been experienced by their Free TV counterparts including ABC iView, SBS On Demand, 7plus, 9Now and 10 Play:
“Almost 8.6 million Australians are now watching at least one of the Video on Demand services offered by Australia’s Free-To-Air broadcasters the ABC, SBS and the leading commercial channels 7, 9 & 10 – growth of nearly 3.5 million (+66.7%) on 2019.
Michele Levine
“This growth for Broadcast Video on Demand is faster (and larger) than experienced by subscription TV over the same period which was up 2.4 million (+16.2%) on 2019 to 17.3 million.
“It’s true that the overall audience for Subscription TV is about twice the size but the results over the last year show that Australians are increasingly discovering there are free alternatives to paying a monthly fee to providers such as Netflix, Foxtel, Stan, Amazon or Disney.”
See also: Seven’s plans to continue growth of 7plus audience and BVOD revenue