Another day, another report on rising streaming service revenue and declining pay-TV subscribers. New data from research group Convergence estimates streaming revenue grew 35% to $29.6 billion in 2020, led by powerhouse OTT services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video. This year is on track to grow 35% to reach $39.9 billion.
Currently, the average consumer household subscribes to 4 different streaming services, up from last year. That number is only projected to increase again next year.
“We forecast average OTT subscriptions will increase to five per broadband household in 2023 from three in 2020,” read the report. With an average of five streaming services per household, the total streaming revenue number is projected to reach $59.4 billion in 2023, nearly double that of 2020.
As the popularity of cord cutting rises, it’s only natural that pay-TV is suffering at the hand of OTT services. The report estimates that 2019 saw a decline of 6.36 million domestic TV subscribers and another 6.49 million in 2020.
“We forecast a decline of 7.35 million pay-TV subs in 2021, and 7.76 million in 2023,” the report states. “Hence, U.S. pay-TV subs declined 8% in 2020, up from 7% in 2019, and will decline 10% in 2021 and 13% in 2023.”