The craze for online viewing services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Crave continues to grow, especially since the onset of the pandemic. Quebecers are hungry for varied entertainment content, and many do not hesitate to migrate from one platform to another to obtain it.
This is the trend revealed by a study conducted in October 2022 by the Academy of Digital Transformation (ATN) of Université Laval among some 1,200 Quebec adults. Released Thursday, data from the Digital Portrait of Quebec Households 2022 show that nearly a quarter (24%) of Internet users in the province subscribe to at least 3 paid online viewing platforms, an increase of 20 percentage points since 2019. people aged 18 to 44, the proportion rises to 1 in 3 adults.
According to Claire Bourget, director of business intelligence and marketing at the ATN, the fact of being subscribed to several platforms is a “new element” of the Digital Portrait which is explained, among other things, by the increased competition on the market. .
“I think the consumer has learned to move from one offer to another. A habit has developed where the customer knows that a big series is going to be released on one platform, and will therefore subscribe to Netflix for a month before unsubscribing and going to another platform. -she in interview.
The desire to reduce their monthly expenses can also influence the choice of consumers. The total cost for a Quebecer subscribing to the most expensive version of Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and Crave is over $60 per month, not including taxes. In Canada, monthly rates range between $5.99 and $20.99 depending on the service.
However, these services are now more popular than traditional television. According to the ATN survey, the subscription rate to paid online viewing platforms (68%) exceeds for the second year in a row that of cable or fiber optic television services (65%).
Although they are gradually abandoning television, Quebecers do not set their sights on a single platform either. According to the survey, one-third of subscribers to the three most popular services (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+) say they intend to cancel their subscriptions to these online viewing platforms in the next 12 months. This probability was also higher among young people aged 18 to 24.
“These results confirm the trend currently observed in the United States whereby subscribers to paid online viewing platforms are increasingly unfaithful”, indicates in the study Bruno Guglielminetti, spokesperson for the NETendances surveys of the ATN.
Netflix dethroned?
Among online viewing services, Netflix has long been a favorite among users. Even today, more than half (51%) of Quebecers surveyed by the ATN said they were customers of the platform.
The American giant, however, recorded for the first time a decrease in its subscription rate, dropping from 57% to 51% in one year. According to data from the Digital Portrait, more and more Internet users in the province are turning to competitors like Amazon Prime Video and Disney +, which have seen their number of subscribers gradually increase over the past three years.
“When Netflix started offering this type of service, there was very little competition in the market. Now, the offer is diversified, even on the French-speaking and Quebec side,” underlines Ms. Bourget.
Among the competitors, Amazon Prime Video is the service that has seen the strongest growth since 2019. Only 7% of Quebecers surveyed had a subscription before the pandemic, compared to 34% in 2022.
The Disney+ and Crave platforms have also seen a considerable increase in their subscription rate in the last year, rising from 18% to 24% and from 8% to 14% respectively.
Over the next few years, online viewing companies will have to work twice as hard to build customer loyalty. Netflix has also launched in 2022 a new, less expensive subscription package that includes advertising to compete with its competitors. Among Quebecers, more than half (55%) of current subscribers were interested in this option, but 40% of people surveyed by the ATN said they did not want to join.
“In my opinion, their main challenge will be to have an attractive offer that stands out in order to keep their customers. Netflix makes a lot of home series and movies, and Prime has that trend too. Everything depends on the production of quality content,” says Claire Bourget.