Streaming services surge in popularity across the Nordics

A recent study reveals a significant rise in the use of TV and movie streaming services across the Nordic countries. According to the Polaris Nordic: Digital Music in the Nordics 2024 study by Teosto, Norway’s TONO, and Denmark’s Koda, 86% of Finns and an average of 89% of Nordics aged 12-65 now use streaming services. In Finland, this marks a 4% increase from two years ago. Notably, the public service platform Yle Areena has seen a remarkable 17% increase in viewership over the same period.

Netflix remains the most popular streaming service in the Nordics, with 52% of respondents subscribing. However, this represents a decline from 57% in 2022. Competition among commercial streaming services has intensified, with Disney+ and HBO Max (now Max) tied as the second and third most popular services, each used by 27% of respondents.

In Finland, 78% of people use at least one paid streaming service, up from 72% in 2022. Netflix leads with 42% usage, followed by Max at 20% and Disney+ at 19%. Among free commercial channels, MTV Katsomo is used by 24% and Ruutu+ by 18% of Finnish respondents.

Significant Growth for Yle Areena

Netflix faces stiff competition from local public digital service providers across the Nordic countries. Public streaming services are used by 51% of respondents, up from 45% in 2022. The largest increase in users is seen with Finland’s Yle Areena, now used by 54% of Finns, up from 37% in 2022.

Only in Denmark do more people use their national public streaming service, with 57% using DR TV, comparable to Yle Areena in Finland.

“While the growth of commercial streaming services has been modest, public service platforms like Yle Areena have seen substantial growth. The popularity of Yle Areena underscores its importance to Finns. Yle’s investment in high-quality content for Areena has clearly paid off,” says Markus Kaarto, Licensing Director at Teosto.

Streaming Time Trends

Overall, Nordic residents spend an average of 3.1 hours per day on TV and movie streaming, down from a peak of 3.8 hours in 2022, likely influenced by the pandemic. Finns spend the least amount of time on streaming services among the Nordics, averaging 2.8 hours per day. Of this, 2.5 hours are spent on commercial services (up from 2.2 hours in 2022) and 0.9 hours on Yle Areena (down from 1 hour in 2022).

In terms of viewing time, Netflix leads in both Finland and other Nordic countries, with users spending about 1.5 hours per day on the platform. This accounts for 24% of all TV and movie streaming time and 28% of time spent on commercial streaming services. Most other commercial streaming services have maintained similar levels of use since 2022.

HT