Netflix loses subscribers in Australia for first time since 2015
Netflix has lost Australian subscribers for the first time since it launched locally in 2015, in a sign streaming growth is stalling and platforms are nearing a consumer ceiling amid increasing cost-of-living pressures.
Research firm Telsyte’s annual industry survey has found the rate of growth slowed for the seven most popular streaming services, which are increasingly battling for attention from the same cohort of customers. There are eight platforms with more than one million subscribers in Australia.
“Profits, partnerships, and more aggressive behaviour. There’s going to be increasing competition to win people over from other platforms,” Telsyte’s managing director, Foad Fodaghi, said. “If the market’s growing strongly, it’s growth, ‘co-opetition’ – all that. When it starts to tighten down, that’s when we see individual companies get more aggressive.”
Gal Gadot in the Netflix film Heart of Stone.
Netflix had 6.1 million subscribers, down 3 per cent, while Amazon Prime Video was up 9 per cent to 4.5 million. Disney+ crept up 1 per cent to 3.1 million, and Stan rose 2 per cent to 2.6 million. Foxtel’s Binge rose 22 per cent to 1.5 million, Paramount+ rose 41 per cent to 1.5 million and Kayo Sports jumped 8 per cent to 1.4 million. These figures include unpaid subscriptions.
Telsyte’s annual study surveyed more than 1100 people in August and another 1030 people in December. It also interviewed streaming executives and examined financial reports filed by major media companies.
The survey found there was almost a streaming subscription account for every Australian – 24.6 million, up from 23.4 million last year. The subscription streaming market was worth $2.7 billion in the year to June 30, a 14 per cent increase
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