2020 was predicted to be a year in which the video on demand industry became increasingly competitive due to new platforms emerging and an increasing pressure to grow subscribers.
Instead, lockdown measures implemented at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a huge shift in audience behaviour and media consumption. People were restricted and quarantined at home, unable to attend movie theatres or enjoy outside entertainment, so they were drawn to VOD in large numbers.
In Australia, this was reflected in significant boosts to platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus and Stan. Viewers diversified and expanded their viewing across multiple services, so “Instead of a streaming war, there’s been streaming coexistence and parallel growth” (Dritan Nesho, from market-research firm HarrisX). As other industries struggled to survive lockdowns, VOD platforms only grew:
The coronavirus pandemic has been a boon for the Australian streaming market, with new research showing consumers aren’t picking winners and losers, and are growing the amount of services they’re subscribing to.
Mason 2020
This can be contextualised as part of the larger growth of video as an online media format.
2020 has been described as “the year of video” by Henry Tirri, CTO of tech company InterDigital, because “the world’s circumstances have aligned with a ubiquity of consumer devices and more time spent looking at our screens” (cited in Streaming Media).
Video became central to not only entertainment, but economic productivity,
service provision, and personal relationships.
Apps and platforms that allow people to video chat while physically isolated are increasingly important; 46% of Australian mobile phone users made video calls or used video chatting platforms such as Facetime in 2021. As the pandemic continues to cause major disruptions and health crises around the world, this trend is likely to continue.
It is estimated that video content will account for 82% of all internet traffic in 2022
Streaming Media 2021