These three streaming providers are the most popular in Europe

They are the big movers of the live streaming world. But they are also suffering from an increase in online piracy. Homemade problem.

For a long time it was just Netflix. Then suddenly everyone wanted to offer their own streaming service. But one study shows: despite the huge choice, everything is concentrated on three main providers in Europe. But online piracy is once again increasingly becoming a problem and a major competitor.

Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ generate 85 percent of the viewing time. This was the result of a study conducted by the European Audiovisual Observatory on the basis of nine European Union countries. Austria is not among them. Particularly popular: science fiction series and films. According to the study, this represents 87 percent and 95 percent of viewing time, respectively.

The report published on Thursday is based on data from Goldmedia's VoD rankings in Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Spain from September 2022 to September 2023. Overall, consumption patterns are similar in all countries, the information point stressed.

American content is more popular than European content

European works accounted for 30 percent of VOD viewing time, of which 21 percent were EU works, nine percent were UK works and one percent were other European works. SVoD stands for subscription video on demand; Users access streaming videos via a monthly or annual subscription.

If we compare their share in catalogs and their viewing time, we find a systematically higher consumption of American works and a lower consumption of European works. European works (film and TV content) accounted for 31 percent of all works listed in VoD catalogs in the 25 EU member states.

Advertising and high prices – fertile ground for online piracy

Streaming should defeat piracy and similar websites Cinema.to They have been replaced by high-quality, affordable subscription models. For several years this was the case. According to a study conducted by the European Union, films and series watched illegally reached an all-time low in 2021. The series were available anytime, anywhere. Subscription models were cheap, accounts could be shared among multiple households, and advertising disappeared. In 2024, the tide has turned: subscription prices keep rising, accounts get banned for sharing and ads come back, and you can only buy your way in for another additional cost.

Streaming company Netflix is ​​no longer the central point of contact, as the show has become widespread. It's difficult to keep track of who presents which series. The comprehensive solution is a thing of the past.

Pirates, that is, those who obtain films and series through illegal screenings, are the biggest fans of cinema, as the head of the TorrentFreak website told the American website “The Daily Beast”: “The irony of this situation is that the most eager to pay consumers are also likely to be pirates.” But the added financial burden of fragmented streaming viewing is simply no longer within most people's control today. (to forbid)