The latest research published by British media analyst Ampere Analysis finds that the number of households taking at least one subscription OTT service in Western Europe (Norway, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, the UK, the Netherlands, Finland, Italy, France, Spain, Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, Iceland, Malta, Greece and Cyprus) is set to surpass North America (the USA plus Canada) in 2024, with the UK and Germany driving much of this growth. Thus, North America will become the world’s third-largest geographical region for streaming homes after Asia and Western Europe.

Notably, the growth of countries outside of North America is set to drive streaming growth, thus “the [North American] region will also no longer account for the majority of streaming revenue, falling below 50% of global revenue in 2024”.

(© Ampere Analysis)

In their official press release, the Ampere Analysis team highlights how the implications for content investment may be significant: “Global streamers have been increasingly targeting international markets for production to satisfy the demands of audiences outside the USA and bolster further growth in regions with the most potential for new customer acquisition. Already only 43% of Netflix’s upcoming series are being made in the USA, and other streamers are following suit. Amazon Prime and Disney+ also now make fewer than 50% of their upcoming shows in the USA, and Paramount+ is rapidly heading the same way.”

With Asia leading the market and being the fastest-growing and largest region, Ampere Analysis argues we are likely to witness “the biggest increase in focus for content investment with a knock-on effect for viewers who will see more and more Asian-origin content on their streaming platforms”. Meanwhile, “Western Europe, too, will become increasingly influential as a source of content on streaming as, moving forward, it is set to remain the second-strongest region for streaming customers”.

(© Ampere Analysis)

Commenting on these new prospects, Guy Bisson, executive director at Ampere Analysis, said: “Streaming saturation in North America is the primary driver for reduced growth. Other world regions still have headroom for new customers, both in terms of customers entirely new to streaming and in the number of services taken in each home. North America also losing its place as the largest revenue-generating region can only accelerate the existing trend for focusing content investment on key growth markets, having long-term implications for the US production sectors and for inward investment into Asia and Europe.”