Subscription video on demand (SVOD) services should not be considered solely as a competitor to pay-TV, but more as a complementary service and replacement for DVD box sets, according to Deloitte’s latest media predictions for 2015.
SVOD is expected to generate approximately £5 billion globally this year – just 3% of the £168 billion pay-TV market.
The report also forecasts that SVOD players will struggle to match TV broadcasters’ investment in brand new high-end content.
While short-form video continues to grow, the report states that it will not overtake traditional, long-form television viewing in 2015.
Deloitte estimates that short-form clips will generate 10 billion hours of viewing a month and revenues of over £3 billion; however, traditional TV content will have advertising and subscription revenues worth over £260 billion this year and viewing of 360 billion hours per month.
Deloitte’s predictions for the year ahead also look at the publishing world, revealing that while eBook sales have plateaued, printed book copies are expected to represent 80% of all book sales worldwide this year.
Sales of paperback and hardcover books were almost three times that of eBooks in 2014, indicating that eBooks are not replacing print.
“eBook sales have not impacted print books in the same way that digital has affected sales of CDs, print newspapers and magazines,” said Ed Shedd, head of UK technology at Deloitte.
“Young people remain as attached to print books, despite their uptake of other digital devices. The debut novel of video blogger Zoella, ‘Girl Online’, with her substantial teenager fan base, sold 20 physical copies for every electronic copy.”
Shedd added that while online sales of physical books are likely to remain strong, bookshops should “extol the value of buying print in person.”
