Q4 2020 US D2C deep dive An attention recession looms

Our clients have full access to all of our reports. Clients can log in to read this report. Click here to become a client or, you can purchase this individual report.
The 20,000 Foot View: The US market is starting to see initial signs of fatigue as the disruptors begin to reduce monthly user engagement among the three dominant incumbent subscription video on demand services. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu all saw modest dips in weekly active use in 2020. The disruptors themselves are also starting to plateau in weekly active use, with the notable exception of Peacock, which nearly doubled its weekly active users in 2020.
Key insights
- Multiple video-on-demand subscriptions remained flat at suggesting that transitioning digital laggards are still inclined towards simplified subscriptions
- Multiple digital subscriptions were at up three percentage points on 2019 as cross-format media competition increases
- The three dominant SVOD services (Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu) are starting to see a slight decline in weekly active users as the leading four new entrants (HBO Max, Peacock, Disney+, and Apple TV+) establish themselves
- The TV set remains the preeminent device for viewing TV and film content; however, year-on year engagement in 2020 declined four percentage points to
- Hulu and Disney+ had the largest weekly active use overlaps, with Netflix having the least overlaps, highlighting the increasing risk of subscriber churn
- The digital laggard migration is now the main disruptive trend sweeping through an increasingly saturated video market
Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ CBS All Access, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, Peacock