Netflix set to surge beyond 10 million users
Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) juggernaut Netflix has continued its impressive growth over the last year with over 9.8 million Australians in the June 2018 quarter now having a Netflix subscription in their household – up nearly 30% on a year ago.
If the growth trend continues over 10 million Australians will have access to Netflix content during the current September 2018 quarter based on the growth shown by Roy Morgan Single Source interviews with more than 50,000 Australians over the last 12 months.
Now over 13 million Australians have access to some form of Pay TV/Subscription TV, up 11.7% on a year ago, and it’s not just Netflix driving the increase.
Over 2 million Australians can now view content via Stan, up 39.2% on a year ago, and growing at a faster rate than Netflix over the last year. Stan is set to be fully owned by the Nine Entertainment Company following their merger with Fairfax.
There were other big increases including for the rebranded YouTube Premium (formerly YouTube Red), now with over 1 million users, up 38.5% on a year ago. While the biggest percentage increases were for Fetch, up 40.5% to 710,000 users and Amazon Prime Video, up 87.7% to 273,000 users.
Leading Internet retailer Amazon only launched its Australian site in December 2017 and Amazon Prime was only officially launched to Australians in June 2018.
Australian household users of Pay TV/Subscription TV services – June 2018 Quarter cf. June 2017 Quarter
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, Apr-Jun 2017, n=13,200 Australians aged 14+ and Apr-Jun 2018, n=13,221 Australians aged 14+.
Michele Levine, CEO Roy Morgan, says SVOD is growing quickly in Australia headlined by streaming giant Netflix set to hit 10 million Australian users as soon as this month:
“Over 13 million Australians now use Pay TV/Subscription TV services. Growth for the leading SVOD providers has continued over the last year at over 25% for Netflix, Stan, YouTube Premium and Fetch. New entrant Amazon Prime Video grew by nearly 90% over the past year off a small base although the Australian service only fully launched in Australia in June 2018.
“Leading streaming video provider Netflix is fast closing in on 10 million users spread across nearly 3.9 million households. 9.8 million Australians aged 14+ used Netflix in the June 2018 quarter which gives Netflix a market penetration of 48% among Australians aged 14+.
“However, although Netflix clearly is well ahead of its rivals, other SVODs are also growing strongly – and generally at a faster rate than even Netflix.
“Stan, the joint venture between new merger partners the Nine Entertainment Company and Fairfax, grew its user base by nearly 40% over the last year to top 2 million users in the June 2018 quarter.
“The proposed merger between Nine and Fairfax consolidates ownership of Stan and opens up multiple opportunities for cross-promotion of the new company’s various media brands such as the Nine Network channels Nine, Gem and Go!, and leading Fairfax mastheads including the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Australian Financial Review.
“In a changing media landscape, highlighted by the recent merger agreement between Nine and Fairfax, the impressive performance of SVOD in recent years shows there are avenues to growth for incumbent media businesses challenged by new entrants into the market.
“To learn more about the consumers who flock to new technological innovations led by early adopters and closely followed by the professional technology mainstream and younger digital natives don’t hesitate to contact Roy Morgan for further information.”
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Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
