Series viewing time far exceeds films on Europe’s SVoD services, EAO report shows

Series get far more viewing time than films on SVoD services in the European Union (EU), according to a new European Audiovisual Observatory (EAO) report.

The report, titled SVoD Usage in the European Union – 2024 Data, found series account for 78% of viewing on subscription services, with films taking the remaining 22%.

This is based on viewing time data for Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video, Disney+ and HBO Max in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden from January to September 2024.

The VoD catalogue data was provided by JustWatch and the VoD usage data by Digital i.

The report also suggests that viewing is concentrated on a small number of titles. In contrast to the sheer volume of content in the catalogues, SVoD usage is highly concentrated, with less than 0.1% of works accounting for about 14% of total viewing time.

Wider European content accounts for 25% of SVoD usage, with 16% attributed to EU content. EU films put up a comparatively stronger performance than EU series, with films from the bloc accounting for 22% of total film viewing, compared with only 14% for EU series.

The report, supported by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Commission, was authored by Christian Grece and Jean-Augustin Tran, TV and VoD analysts within the EAO’s department for market information. The EAO is part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

Last month, the EAO announced Pauline Durand-Vialle as its new executive director, replacing current incumbent Susanne Nikoltchev, who retires this year. Durand-Vialle, currently CEO of the Federation of European Screen Directors, will take up the role on September 15.