By Rob McLaren, Insight
In late March, HBO Max completed its long-awaited launch in the UK. Boasting titles like The Pitt and fan-favourite Friends, the titans of US broadcasting bring an impressive back catalogue across the Atlantic. But for many consumers, the arrival of a new streaming service drew a similar reaction to that of a famous Bristolian woman: ‘Not another one?!’
The UK streaming market is already a crowded affair, and several services go toe-to-toe with traditional broadcasters for share of audience. According to Barb, Netflix has a similar pedigree to ITV, Amazon ranks close to Sky, and Disney+ is not far behind. Newer entrants to the market, including Apple TV and Paramount+, reach over one-tenth of UK households. And that’s before factoring in the paid version of ITVX, smaller competitors like BFI Player, and the litany of sporting-based streamers available.
On this evidence alone, the conventional wisdom would be that any TV service newly entering the market would face an uphill battle to gain subscribers.
However, the HBO Max launch reveals more about the direction of SVOD, for it appears certain that the vast majority of its users will not subscribe directly. Immediately upon launch, Sky announced that HBO Max, Disney+ and Hayu would automatically be bundled with all Ultimate TV plans, with Netflix already included. When Paramount+ (included with Sky Cinema) is thrown into the mix, this means that Sky customers can now access two-thirds of the UK streaming market – through a single TV package, with Virgin and NOW offering similar deals.
This highlights the role the UK’s legacy pay-TV companies have adopted in the new streaming landscape. As the number of choices consumers have grows, so too does confusion. Platform exclusives and rights being passed around make it harder to ascertain which services are truly ‘necessary’. Sky is offering a return to the days of old: customers pay a single monthly fee for (nearly) guaranteed, no FOMO viewing.
This is a far cry from the launch of Netflix as a true alternative to the TV package, ad-free and promising uninterrupted content, but it might offer the best of both worlds for both Linear and SVOD: broadcasters maintain a grip on the way audiences consume TV while streamers expand their potential audience base.
For advertisers, the promise of an all-in-one package is also lucrative. Bundled TV packages almost invariably feature the ‘Basic with ads’ tiers of subscription services, further increasing the reach of ad-funded SVOD services, which were already predicted to surpass ad-free models in 2026. This safeguards brands’ access to high-attention, appointment-to-view streaming occasions.
Whether Sky’s all-in-one gambit will prove successful remains to be seen, but it highlights that legacy TV providers will continue to influence the way Brits buy and consume content, even as SVOD grows its share of viewing time. As for HBO Max, it is set to be combined with Paramount+ into a single streaming service next year – at which point the ever-changing list of subscriptions might have to change again.
