US to reach 450 million SVoD subs by 2026, Digital TV Research report finds

Gross SVoD subscriptions in the US will rise by 33% from 338 million at the end of 2021 to 450 million by 2026, according to a report by UK analysis firm Digital TV Research.

About 87% of TV households in the US, equating to 106 million, will subscribe to at least one SVoD platform by 2026, compared with 82% (99 million) by the end of this year.

The average SVoD household will pay for 4.26 SVoD services by 2026, while the average SVoD subscriber will pay for 3.42 by the end of 2021. This means the average SVoD home will add nearly one paid-for subscription between 2021 and 2026.

Amazon Prime Video will be the most subscribed to platform in 2026, with 101.4 million subscribers in the US, followed by Netflix with 69.9 million. Disney+ comes in next at 59.5 million, ahead of Hulu at 54.3 million.

Next up is HBO Max, with 53 million subscribers. Paramount+ will have 22.4 million subs in 2026, while Peacock will have 16.4 million, Starzplay 15.9 million and Showtime 12.5 million.

Apple TV+ comes in last place with 8.9 million, while other unlisted SVoD platforms combined will have 30.9 million subscribers by 2026.

Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “We have substantially revised our forecasts to reflect recent market developments. For instance, we have markedly increased our subscriber numbers for Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and the ‘others’ category.”