Parrot Analytics SVOD platform trend reports reveal which SVOD’s digital original series are appealing most to audiences in a market during these three months, dive deeper into how this looks for the dynamic action and adventure genre and shed light on the overall size of digital original series within the entire market.

The key questions investigated in this report:

1. Are Australian audiences demanding more linear or more digital content?

2. Which SVOD’s original series are demanded most by Australian audiences and how is this evolving?

3. In the action and adventure genre, which SVOD’s original series are demanded most by Australian audiences and how is this evolving?

Are Australian audiences demanding more linear or digital content?

• In the Australian market, 14.7% of all demand is expressed for a digital original series. The majority of audience demand, 85.3%, is expressed for shows from linear networks.

• However, per-unit digital original series punch above their weight. Digital originals make up 13.5% of all titles in this market compared to the 14.7% demand share, making them about 9% more effective at attracting audiences than linear series.

• Over the same period, the global demand share for digital originals is 17.2%, indicating digital original series still have room to grow their Australian market share.

Which SVOD’s original series are most in-demand by Australian audiences?

• Netflix original series have a 47.3% demand share in the Australian market this quarter. This is one of the few markets worldwide where the Netflix share is less than 50%.

• With 5.6% of the demand for digital original shows, Disney+ over-performs in Australia compared to worldwide preferences. Globally, DC Universe originals are preferred to Disney+.

• This difference is likely due to Australia being one of the earliest launch markets for Disney+, giving the service time to penetrate the market.

The next chart shows how the demand shares for these five platforms have evolved over the past 12 months:

• The trend over time shows how the Australian launch of both Disney+ and Apple TV+ in November 2019 reshaped the digital original landscape

• Demand share leader Netflix was strongly affected, losing 8.7% share from October to December 2019. However, the Netflix demand rallied in January 2020 and has held stable in Australia since.

• Reflecting the ever-increasing number of players in the Streaming Wars, there is a slight uptick in the share for originals from other SVOD platforms at the end of this quarter. Star Trek: Picard from CBS All Access is the most in demand of these titles; as this platform does not operate in this market Australians can view the series on Amazon Prime Video.

Which SVOD’s Action and Adventure original series are demanded most by Australian audiences?

• Unlike the overall Australian digital original market, CBS All Access originals have one of the five largest shares of the action and adventure genre.

• The 20.2% demand share for Netflix in this genre is significantly smaller than the global average share of 32.2%. In this genre, DC Universe series lead with a 31.1% demand share. Titans is the most demanded DC Universe original this quarter with Aussies and in-market is available on Netflix.

• In line with the result for all genres, Disney+ series also over-index in this genre, with Australia’s 16.7% share this quarter higher than the global average of 12.6%.

The next chart shows how the action and adventure demand shares for these five platforms have evolved over the past 12 months:

• In the 12-month trend, we can see how Australian demand for DC Universe originals grows over the most recent three months. In this quarter, high demand for Titans is joined by increased demand for new series DC’s Stargirl.

• The arrival of Disney+ had a greater effect in this genre than in the overall market. In December 2019 when The Mandalorian released its finale, Disney+ peaked with a 32.1% demand share of action and adventure originals.

• Compared to the overall Australian digital original market, a much smaller proportion of demand in this genre comes from other platforms. One reason for this is that action and adventure series tend to use a large amount of costly special effects, resulting in a high barrier to entry.

This report is intended as a high-level overview of the SVOD market in this country. To access more granular platform demand trends for specific platforms, genres, timeframes and more, contact your Parrot Analytics representative.

For more information, check out the most up-to-date Australia television industry overview.