Netflix to drive digital spending in the Netherlands

Digital video expenditure is forecast to exceed consumer spending on packaged media in the Netherlands this year, driven by pay TV, video-on-demand and Netflix, according to research by Futuresource Consulting.

According to Futuresource, digital expenditure will account for 66% of home video expenditure this year, with the overall digital video market set to grow by 51%, with retail expenditure totaling €215 million (US$254.8 million). SVOD is expected to produce turnover of €111 million this year, driven by the Netflix effect. SVoD is predicted to account for 55% of all home video spend by 2018, reaching €240 million.

Pay TV will continue to account for the bulk of overall video expenditure, at 72% of the total, accourding to Futuresource, following a modest decline in pay TV in 2014. Pay TV VOD grew by 8% last year and is expected to grew by a similar amount this year.

The overall video entertainment market, including digital video, box office, packaged video and subscription TV, totaled over €2 billion in 2014 and is expected to rise to over €2.1 billion this year.

“The Dutch video market tends to share similarities with the Nordics, more than any other European country, with rapid SVOD uptake and over 20% decline in packaged video,” says Joanna Wright, senior market analyst at Futuresource.

“This shifting mix of video business was compounded by the bankruptcy of leading retailer, Free Record Shop, just a few months prior to Netflix’s launch.”