TV Fandom Q2 2018 SVOD Audiences Become Mainstream

The 20,000 Foot View: TV fandom underpins viewing across all platforms and territories, but is being reshaped by streaming, with audiences having much greater control over what they watch. This choice-led viewing provides the foundations for deeper degrees of audience fandom, but also the diminishment of more passive audience elements. Subscription video on demand (SVOD) continued to disrupt traditional linear pay-TV service offerings in            2018, with Netflix increasing its weekly active users (WAUs) from            to            year-on-year and household SVOD subscriptions increasing from            to            over the same period. The shift to SVOD has not yet directly reshaped the type of shows that dominate fandom, with the Big Bang Theory still the most popular, but it has illustrated the homogenisation of consumer characteristics across demographics, as the developed markets become increasingly digitally native. This is where the change begins.

Key Findings

• Netflix saw            penetration increase YoY from            in            to            in            2018
• The number            pay-TV Households in the US,            Australia and Canada decreased YoY                       in            2017 to            in            2018
• SVOD households            from            in            2017 to            in           
• The Big            Theory has the highest fan            in the US, Canada and           
• Blue Planet            the highest fan penetration in            UK with            penetration, but only                       in the US, Australia and            respectively
• The Voice                       fandom penetration among females, ranking            most popular show, but            for            with            fan penetration
           year olds is the only age segment where Big Bang Theory            does not rank highest for fan penetration
• SVOD shows            longer life spans with Stranger            fandom increasing            YoY, even though            latest release was            2017
• Of the            three shows for fandom, NCIS            have the highest average age            lowest penetration rates for streaming           
• The top            shows for awareness were all            on pay-TV in            2018, with            Big Bang Theory leading the            with            penetration

Companies and brands mentioned in this report:            Reasons Why, Amazon, Amazon Prime, AMC, American Horror Story, BBC, Blue Planet, Catfish, CBS, Doctor Who, Facebook, Foxtel, Foxtel Now, Game of Thrones, HBO, HBO Now, ITV, Luke Cage, Man In The High Castle, Mr Robot, NCIS, Netflix, NowTV, Sherlock, Sky, Stranger Things, The Big Bang Theory, The Flash, The Voice, The Walking Dead, Top Gear, Transparent, Twitter