Antenna: Consumers embracing specialty SVOD streaming services

While the trend of stacking subscription streaming VOD services seems to be cooling, consumers continue to gravitate toward niche streaming platforms.

New data from Antenna found that 31% of SVOD consumers transacted with
a specialty SVOD platform by the end of the second quarter (ended June 30). Amazon Channels generated 58% of specialty SVOD sign-ups through the first six months of the year.

Specialty SVOD services include A&E Crime Central, Acorn TV, ALLBLK, AMC+, BBC Select, BET+, BritBox, Cinemax, Crunchyroll, CuriosityStream, Fox Nation, Gaia, Hallmark Movies Now, Dove Channel, History Vault, Lifetime Movie Club, MGM+, PBS Documentaries, PBS KIDS, PBS Masterpiece, PureFlix, Shudder, Sundance Now, UP Faith & Family, ViX Premium and Zeus Network, among others.

Antenna found that the category has seen strong growth over the past several years, outpacing premium SVOD, albeit off a smaller consumer base. The report contends that as more households cut the pay-TV cord and turn to streaming video as their primary mode of home entertainment, they seek out a broader set of brands.

Indeed, there were 24 million gross subscriber additions among specialty SVOD platforms in 2022, 32.2 million additions in 2023 and 18.4 million through the first half of 2024.

AMC+ captured the greatest number of sub additions in 2022 with 4.1 million. MGM+ added 4.2 million in 2023. And AMC+ is leading again in 2024, adding the largest number of subs through the first half of 2024 with 3 million.

As the major SVOD platforms focus on profitability, many are deploying streamlined content strategies and focusing on programming that appeals to the largest group of viewers. This leaves an opening for niche services focusing on a specific genre or audience, according to Antenna.

Amazon Channels — the first industry attempt to offer third-party streaming options and billing on a proprietary platform — has been successful at driving discovery of smaller streaming services, with a user interface and experience that emphasizes individual shows, no matter which service they come from, according to Antenna.

In Q2 2022, Antenna measured 129.1 million SVOD users and 19% of them (24.5 million) had transacted with a specialty SVOD service. By Q2 2024, the total SVOD consumer base grew more than 30% to 168.3 million, and the number of users who had transacted with specialty SVOD grew more than 110% to 51.4 million, or 31% of the U.S. market.

Among specialty SVOD subs, 34 million (66%) have subscribed to one niche services, 9.8 million (19%) have subscribed to two niche services, 3.9 million (8%) have subscribed to three services, and 3.7 million (6%) have subscribed to more than four niche platforms.

In addition, the introduction of lower-cost ad-supported services has driven the growth in specialty SVOD services. Indeed, about 36% of AMC+ subscriber additions in the second quarter were ad-supported. At the same time, early bundling efforts combining rival platforms under an umbrella subscription have gained limited traction, according to the report.

Currently, Starz and MGM+, Starz and AMC+, and AMC+ and MGM+ are all offered as SVOD bundles. YouTube TV offers an “Entertainment Plus” add-on bundle that includes Max, Starz and Paramount+ with Showtime. Media Play News