US streaming subscriber growth halved last year By Reuters

(Reuters) -Streaming subscriber growth in the United States has halved in 2023, data from research firm Antenna showed, a sign that the boom could be over for the industry in its key market.

Growth in the premium video-on-demand subscription category slowed to 10.1% last year from 21.6% in 2022. But its overall growth has more than doubled in four years, indicating a constant trend towards resubscription.

At the beginning of the streaming boom, companies focused on investing money in creating content to attract and retain subscribers. Customers also signed up for services during the pandemic while they were confined to their homes and movie theaters were inaccessible.

But since then and with last year's twin Hollywood strikes, companies have been looking to keep spending on content low while boosting their advertising offerings to generate revenue.

Streaming giant Netflix (NASDAQ:), Comcast-owned Peacock, and Paramount Global's Paramount+ drove the biggest growth, with total subscriptions of 242.9 million by the end of 2023.

The report also indicated a shift in market share among streaming platforms. Netflix, which accounted for almost half of subscriptions in 2019, now accounts for just over a quarter of the market.

Paramount+ surpassed Disney+ in total subscriptions. Peacock and Paramount saw slight increases in market share, while Discovery+, Disney+, and Hulu saw slight declines.

Antenna said streaming was entering a new phase of sobriety.

The previous stage was very focused on acquisition to attract a mass audience. But now that larger players have that scale, they must shift their focus toward managing their subscribers, he said.

About 30% of gross adds in 2023 were re-subscriptions, referring to users who were previously subscribed and had since canceled that same service within the previous 12 months. Almost a quarter of cancellations were “recovered” within three months and more than 40% within 12 months, according to the report.