The BARB has revealed its latest data from its Establishment Survey, giving some details on the current state of streaming services in the United Kingdom.

These latest stats show that 20 million homes, which is 68.7% of all the homes in the United Kingdom, now have access to a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platform in the second quarter of 2024, which is up around half a million since the first quarter of 2024.

Disney+ is the third most popular SVOD streaming service in the UK, with 7.6 million subscribers, which is 26.6% of UK homes.  Unfortunately, Disney hasn’t been able to increase its subscription numbers in the last quarter.

Netflix continues to be the most popular streaming platform in the UK, with 17.1% of homes subscribed, while Amazon Prime Video can be found in 13.7 million homes.  Both of which are up over half a million in the last quarter.

Here’s the full breakdown:

• Netflix: 17.1m UK homes (58.6%) had access to Netflix in Q2 2024 up from 16.7m (58%) in Q1.
• Amazon Prime Video: 13.7m UK homes (46.7%) had access to Amazon Prime Video in Q2 up from 13m (45.3%) in Q1.
• Disney+: 7.6m UK homes (26.1%) had access to Disney+ in Q2 flat compared to Q1.
• Apple TV+: 2.4m UK homes (8.3%) had access to Apple TV+ in Q2 flat compared to Q1.
• Paramount+: 2.8m UK homes (9.7%) had access to Paramount+ in Q2 up from 2.6m (9.1%) in Q1.
• Discovery+: 3.2m UK homes (11.1%) had access to Discovery+ in Q2, up fractionally from 3.1m (10.9%) in Q1.
• NOW: 1.98m UK homes (6.8%) had access to NOW in Q2, up from 1.82m (6.3%) in Q1.

Doug Whelpdale, Head of Insight at Barb said:

“More than 20m UK homes have access to an SVOD service for the first time since Barb began collecting data in 2014. This figure is 1.25m higher than in Q2 2023 – a 6.6% increase. The number of homes with two or more services also tipped to 14m (48%) for the first time.

Building on strong growth in Q1 all services on the tracker saw a quarterly increase in the number of homes with access. Netflix added just under 0.9m homes since Q4 2023, while Amazon gained almost 1.3m in the first half of 2024.

The challenge will be to maintain this momentum. Q3 2024 will be a key test to see if the pure-play VOD services can avoid the plateaus of the last three years, but 2024 appears to be going well for these services so far.”

As the UK continues to struggle with the cost of living increases, subscription services are one of the first things to be impacted and with people cutting back on what they are subscribed to, it’s very clear that Amazon and Netflix are the top two platforms for the majority of people.  If Disney wants to increase its market share in the UK, it must raise its game. 

Roger’s Take:   With very few major releases on Disney+ during the second quarter of 2024 (April to June), it’s not a huge surprise to see no major bump in subscriber numbers.  Hopefully, later this year, with more original programming being released, Disney+ will up its advertising campaign, especially to increase the number of people on the ad-supported tier, which is just £4.99 a month. 

I also think Disney does a terrible job in promoting many of its major new shows, not just externally through marketing but also within the app, as it’s sometimes difficult for subscribers to see what’s new.   It doesn’t help that many of the big US shows get released months after their initial release or that many viewers don’t even realise shows like “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Family Guy” or “9-1-1” have even moved to Disney+.

Do you think Disney+ will be able to increase its number of subscribers in the UK?  Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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