Four types of video-on-demand markets: Comparing the development of European VoD

TY - JOUR

T1 - Four types of video-on-demand markets

T2 - Comparing the development of European VoD

AU - Bengesser, Cathrin

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 Intellect Ltd.

PY - 2024/6

Y1 - 2024/6

N2 - The European video-on-demand (VoD) market has grown rapidly over the past decade, but differences across European nations persist. While the US-based globally operating players Netflix, Amazon and Disney+ dominate the subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) market, VoD services emerging from the legacy media industries and funded by means other than subscription shaped the early development of the European VoD market. This article maps and compares the development of the VoD market within the European Union with a focus on the idiosyncrasies in uptake and offer of VoD in different countries. Building on previous studies of national media systems, the article develops four comparative dimensions for the case of the European VoD market and operationalizes them using quantitative data from the European Audiovisual Observatory (EAO) and Eurostat from the period 2016–22. The comparative data analysis results in a grouping of coun-tries, according to similar levels of market penetration and diversity of catalogue and content offers, while accounting for differences in size, concentration in the SVoD market and levels of market intervention within these clusters. These four types of VoD market development offer a contextualization to nation or service-specific case studies of players in the European market and a basis for hypotheses to explain these differences.

AB - The European video-on-demand (VoD) market has grown rapidly over the past decade, but differences across European nations persist. While the US-based globally operating players Netflix, Amazon and Disney+ dominate the subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) market, VoD services emerging from the legacy media industries and funded by means other than subscription shaped the early development of the European VoD market. This article maps and compares the development of the VoD market within the European Union with a focus on the idiosyncrasies in uptake and offer of VoD in different countries. Building on previous studies of national media systems, the article develops four comparative dimensions for the case of the European VoD market and operationalizes them using quantitative data from the European Audiovisual Observatory (EAO) and Eurostat from the period 2016–22. The comparative data analysis results in a grouping of coun-tries, according to similar levels of market penetration and diversity of catalogue and content offers, while accounting for differences in size, concentration in the SVoD market and levels of market intervention within these clusters. These four types of VoD market development offer a contextualization to nation or service-specific case studies of players in the European market and a basis for hypotheses to explain these differences.

KW - broadcasters

KW - European Union

KW - media policy

KW - media systems

KW - Netflix

KW - Streaming

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85201683432

U2 - 10.1386/jdmp_00146_1

DO - 10.1386/jdmp_00146_1

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85201683432

SN - 2516-3523

VL - 15

SP - 193

EP - 212

JO - Journal of Digital Media and Policy

JF - Journal of Digital Media and Policy

IS - 2

ER -