Pixar’s “Elemental” On Disney+ Was The Second Most Watched Movie In The UK In 2023
Ofcom has released its annual Media Nations report for 2023, which provides extensive information on how British consumers are viewing television and highlights behaviours and key trends.
The report states that individuals now spend, on average, 4 hours and 31 minutes per day watching video content at home. The majority of viewership in the UK is still dominated by British public broadcasters like the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
It was also revealed that Disney+, along with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, continued to account for the large majority (95%) of SVoD/AVoD viewing.
Pixar’s “Elemental” was a huge hit for Disney+ in the United Kingdom, as it was the second most-watched film or programme released on a paid streaming service in 2023, pulling in 6.5 million views, just a million behind the Netflix movie “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget”. Though Netflix dominated the rest of the chart of the most watched SVOD titles, it’s interesting to see that many of the titles on this chart feature well-known British actors or personalities like Jeremy Clarkson and David Beckham.
Disney+ has continued to increase its penetration of UK households, reaching 26% of the population, compared to Netflix’s 58% and Amazon Prime’s 45%. Showing that Disney still needs to do lots more work in the UK to catch up with the two tech giants.
The report also revealed that the majority of people interviewed for this survey said that the main reason they had Disney+ was to watch specific content and also content that wasn’t available elsewhere.
However, the two main reasons people unsubscribed from Disney+ were that they didn’t use it enough to justify the expense and that it was too expensive. The price rises of Netflix and Amazon were also highlighted as reasons why people unsubscribed from them.
In the UK, Netflix remains the most-watched SVoD service, averaging 21 minutes per person per day in 2023 and accounting for over half of total SVoD/AVoD viewing time for all age groups. Disney+, while in third place in terms of household penetration of these services, ranked second in terms of daily viewing (9 minutes), slightly ahead of Amazon Prime Video (7 minutes).
This report also highlighted that adults between 16 and 34 watch the most SVOD content when compared to other age groups, around 56 minutes per day, with Disney+ increasing its average from 11 minutes to 15 minutes. It was also revealed that Disney+ viewership skews younger, accounting for 29% of all SVoD/AVoD viewing time. However, Disney+ is struggling to pull in audiences over 74, as only 6% of this age group watches Disney+, compared to 26% for Amazon.
There is also some great news for Disney+, as 82% of those asked were satisfied with the platform and it was just 2% lower than Netflix and 5% higher than Amazon.
As the streaming wars move into a different phase, where many platforms are looking to consolidate, the report highlighted that 46% of those asked felt there were too many streaming services. The cost of all of these streaming services is also an issue for consumers, especially with the squeeze from the economy.
With the introduction of the cheaper ad-supported tiers for Amazon, Netflix and Disney+, it’s likely we could see some major changes in next year’s report, as this is considered to be a major growth area, especially with both Disney+ and Netflix offering ad-supported versions for just £4.99 a month.
The report also stated that in 2023, Disney+ had a revenue of £455 million, which is much less than Amazon or Netflix, but bigger than any other streaming platforms. It’s also expected this is going to continue to grow in 2024 with the addition of advertising revenue and the impending password sharing clampdown. Disney has also begun licensing out some titles to BBC, ITV and Channel 4 to improve its own revenue.
Cost reduction was also mentioned in the report, indicating that Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount have all pulled back on production outside the US, and all three have also withdrawn content from their streaming libraries, writing off the value of these assets via impairment charges.
This new report from Ofcom, gives us a great insight into what’s currently going on within the United Kingdom and shows how Disney+, Netflix and Amazon are pulling away as the main SVOD platforms. While the free-to-air platforms BBC, ITV and Channel 4 still dominate the majority of viewership
The addition of the ad-supported tier will undoubtedly help Disney+ grow within the UK. At an entry price point of £4.99, it’s an affordable option. It’s always difficult to compare with Amazon since the additional benefits of a Prime subscription, such as express delivery, free games, audible credits and other bonuses, all help keep people subscribed.
Roger’s Take: From these stats, Disney+ seems to be in a good spot, but without a doubt, they’ve been pulling back on how much advertising they are doing for major new releases, and while the Star content is filling the void, the general slowdown in new content being released is eventually going to cause people to question why they have a subscription. Disney needs to be much more aware of how to space out its new releases for a global audience if it really wants to compete with Amazon and Netflix, which aren’t restricted by a reliance on a US-centric linear channel system.
How do you think Disney+ is doing in the UK? Let me know on social media!
Roger Palmer
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