A new report from Samba TV suggests that in an increasingly crowded content world, SVODs need to rethink marketing strategies as more consumers jump between streaming services. The study finds streamers have a short window to capture viewing attention on new hits, in the face of more subscription cycling – or customers dropping services after they watch the latest top programs.
Big hits and fan favorites have attracted large audiences for streamers – such as Netflix’s fourth season of “Stranger Things,” which captured 1.15 billion hours viewed in the first 28 days. Recently in August Hulu’s prequel action film “Prey” notched the top spot for most premiere viewing hours ever on the platform in its first three days, across all TV series and movies.
However, Samba’s Q2 State of Viewership Report finds that even the most-viewed series lose steam after just 30 days – highlighting the need to keep content fresh – and consumers aware – to avoid churn rates that have been increasing as viewers look to save money.
Samba TV’s report, which analyzes approximately 24 billion hours of linear and streaming, found that over three quarters of 50-day premiere viewership on streaming platforms happens within the first two weeks. Once a release hits the 15-day mark, almost all top shows had attracted more than 70% of their cumulative 50-day viewership. That figure increased to more than 86% after 30 days.
Samba collects first-party automatic content recognition (ACR) data from tens of millions of opted-in TVs across more than 20 TV brands.
And while big draws on Disney+ and Netflix have had longer viewership windows, according to the report, SVODs want users to keep watching even after the top program ends. According to Samba, for the second quarter in a row Disney+ and Netflix led the streaming pack by far in terms of subscribers watching multiple top programs.
For all other streamers, more than half of viewers watched only one of the top 50 programs on the platform in Q2. That includes HBO Max (62% watched just one program among top 50), Apple TV+ (60%), Hulu (55%), and Amazon Prime Video (55%). Comparatively, 35% of Disney+ households watched only one and 33% of viewing households did so on Netflix in Q2.
Samba TV CEO Ashwin Navin said in a statement that a key finding of the report is that streamers need to think differently about how they market content.
“With more than $40 billion being spent this year alone on new content, consumers are overwhelmed by choices. Platforms need to ensure they are driving smart strategies ahead of content launches to draw in not just built in fans but broader viewers who may be interested,” Navin stated. “In today’s content streaming wars, just because you build it, doesn't mean viewers will come to it. We need to be much more strategic about how we drive engagement before, during and after launches.”
According to the report 8% of subscriptions were canceled in the second quarter, while AVOD services grew by 2%, with more than one in four households now using at least one AVOD service.
In the past six months “Stranger Things” unsurprisingly topped the charts, driving almost 9 million tune-ins in June. Per the report, Disney+ also saw momentum that month from Obi-Wan Kenobi, which neared 5 million views.
“On the other hand HBO Max has struggled to produce a show that breaks 2M monthly views since Euphoria’s release in early Q1,” the report states.
In terms of drumming up interest for hit series, Roku and HBO Max today launched a joint effort ahead of the “Game of Thrones” prequel series premiere “House of the Dragon,” slated to release on August 21. Roku is featuring a dedicated hub on its home menu screen with several features such as sneak peed trailers and giveaways.
Netflix, meanwhile, went on a major marketing blitz (including emojis, 3D billboards and more than 100 TV ads) to promote its recently released big-budget summer action movie “The Gray Man” starring Ryan Reynolds. After debuting on July 22, the film brought in 88.5 million hours viewed the week of July 18.
The Samba TV report also found that minutes of TV viewed for linear TV declined 1% year over year to a year-low in Q2, as SVOD and AVOD engagement both grew about 2% quarter over quarter.
The latest Gauge snapshot from Nielsen showed that streaming TV reached another all-time high in July, overtaking cable viewing for the first time. Streaming accounted for a 34.8% share of total TV viewing while cable dropped to a 34.4% share for the month.