The major event in the German SVOD market so far this year has been the launch of Disney+ here on March 24. The platform has carved out a substantial market share and managed to maintain an approximately 20% demand share since launching.
Netflix has borne the brunt of Disney+’s entrance into this market. In 2020 prior to March 24, the platform’s average weekly demand share was 36.8%. Following Disney+’s launch its weekly average has been 27.5%. The Witcher, Netflix’s biggest hit in the German market so far this year was released at the end of 2019 and demand for it has since faded.
Amazon Prime Video has benefited from the perennial popularity of the Star Trek franchise in the German market. The latest series in the franchise, Star Trek: Picard, was released in January, concluded at the end of March, and is available on Amazon Prime Video in Germany. Netflix previously had much success with the international distribution rights to Star Trek: Discovery. Amazon is now seeing the value of this IP here.
Smaller services Joyn, Sky Go, and RTL TVNow have maintained their demand share relatively well in the face of increased competition from Disney+. Joyn in fact has increased its average weekly demand share from 11.7% to 13.2% following the launch of Disney+. Its success was likely boosted by the availability of both The Walking Dead and Germany’s Next Topmodel on its platform. Both shows were airing new episodes at this time and were among the most popular in Germany.
When we look at top shows in Germany for the year, irrespective of platform, it is striking how The Mandalorian has maintained its popularity so far this year. Even though Disney+ was not yet available in this market until March, its flagship series was the most in-demand in Germany in January and February. The platform launch gave the series another boost and it held the top spot in April and May.
In our extensive coverage of Covid-19’s impact on the industry, we showed how The Walking Dead saw a jump in demand due to the current situation. This series took the top spot in March as demand rose in the lead up to the season finale.
The staying power of Game of Thrones is evident in the chart above. Despite ending in May 2019, it held a spot among the top 5 most in-demand series in Germany each month so far this year. Sky Go is certainly benefiting from the availability of this show on its platform here.
Contrast the lasting demand for the above series with Netflix originals La Casa de Papel and Altered Carbon. Both were among the top 5 series in the month a new season was released. However, beyond that demand for these shows did not stay strong.
