The rollout of advertising-supported streaming services has so far seen few such launches in the Swedish market.
However, a study by the Stockholm-based consultancy Mediavision suggests this may be about to change.
In the United States, Netflix has reported that the company’s ad-supported tier now has 23 million active users per month. This is still a relatively new phenomenon in Sweden. Currently, over 200,000 households, or about 7% of streaming households, have opted for a cheaper ad-supported alternative. This can be compared to 3 million households that have a fully paid streaming service without ads.
In the autumn 2023, ad-supported options were launched by Disney+ and TV4 Play. Discovery+ also offers such subscription.
Mediavision has asked consumers about their interest in such subscriptions. If the five largest streaming services in Sweden were to launch cheaper subscriptions with ads, they could add up to 1.8 million new subscriptions. In addition to growing subscriber revenues this would also include a significant income from advertisers.
“As the pure pay-streaming market matures, new initiatives for growth are needed, said Fredrik Liljeqvist, senior analyst, Mediavision. “Advertising enables less expensive services for consumers but also new revenue streams for streaming services. This means households may consider acquiring more subscriptions, while advertisers in Sweden can reach many viewers with ads.”
As reported by Broadband TV News, SkyShowtime has recently announced plans for an ad-supported subscription launching in April, in Sweden and other markets. Warner Bros. Discovery has also announced that the new streaming service Max will also have such an option when it launches in Sweden this spring. Additionally, both Amazon and Netflix offer cheaper ad-supported options in several markets, but nothing has yet been communicated about a potential launch in the Nordics.