Streamers throughout Europe are incorporating more ad-supported streaming video services into their television diets, according to a newly-released trends report from media research firm Dataxis.
The report found that hybrid video on-demand (HVOD) services grew by 783 percent across the top five streaming markets in Europe. HVOD is a relatively new industry term that refers to a streaming platform that offers both ad-supported and premium, commercial-free service plans. Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video and Disney Plus all offer HVOD services in Europe.
A major growth factor in the rise of HVOD services in Europe is Amazon’s decision to automatically switch all of its Prime members to the ad-supported plan of Prime Video, which is now the version of the service that Prime members receive by default. The move meant Amazon grew its ad-supported plan adoption rate by 81 percent within the first few weeks of its debut.
As in the United States, Amazon is charging Prime members a separate fee to remove commercial interruptions from Prime Video content. That strategy is different from ones employed by Netflix and Disney Plus, which launched ad-supported tiers that are cheaper in cost relative to commercial-free plans, but didn’t automatically switch customers from one plan to the other. Netflix grew its ad-supported plan by 28 percent in 2024 after an 8 percent growth the prior year, while Disney Plus saw its ad-supported plan adoption rate increase from 7 percent in 2023 to 23 percent last year.
While streaming platforms compete with cable and satellite TV operators in the United States, cable TV operators and other telecoms are actually spurring the adoption of streaming platforms in Europe’s most-mature markets, including the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Portugal. There, companies like Deutsche Telekom (Germany) and Comcast-owned Sky Group (United Kingdom) are enticing customers to their traditional TV and broadband Internet offerings by coupling streaming access with those services. In some areas, streaming access is free, while in others, the service bundles are at a lower price compared to the retail cost of each service.
The growth of ad-supported tiers in Europe is expected to continue as more services launch their own HVOD offerings. ViaPlay, which offers streaming TV service in the Nordic region, recently introduced its own ad-supported plan, while Disney Plus has expanded its ad-supported tier to Finland, Portugal and the Netherlands. Sky Showtime, the joint venture between Comcast and Paramount that offers TV and film content from both media brands, also launched an ad-supported tier last year.
The full Dataxis report is available to view by clicking or tapping here.
