United Kingdom (UK) Over The Top (OTT) Market Overview, 2028

The UK is the largest OTT Revenue earner in the Region. Over-the-top service refers to movies and TV shows that are delivered directly to digital users without the requirement of cable or satellite television subscription. OTT content can be directly downloaded and viewed on user’s demand. This type of content includes movies and TV services, and is delivered directly over the internet to connected devices such as PCs, tablets, smartphones, and consoles. In the United Kingdom, some of the popular OTT (over-the-top) media services include: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, NOW TV (owned by Sky), Hulu, All 4 (owned by Channel 4), YouTube TVSky Go (owned by Sky), ITV Hub. These OTT media services offer a range of content, including original programming, films, TV shows, live sports, and more. The popularity of OTT media in the UK is growing due to factors such as the convenience of on-demand viewing, improved broadband access, and changing consumer habits. The ranking and popularity of these services may vary and can change over time. The trend towards online content consumption is expected to continue in the UK, as more people turn to OTT services for their entertainment needs. The growth of original content production and the rise of the country's middle class are expected to drive the growth of the UK OTT market. The UK has a high broadband penetration rate, which has facilitated the growth of the OTT market. The country's high-speed internet infrastructure makes it easier for people to access OTT content.

According to the research report, "United Kingdom over the Top (OTT) Market Overview, 2028," published by Bonafide Research, the market is anticipated to add USD 6.70 Billion by the end of 2028. Due to the increase in the number of digital video consumers, media and entertainment dominated the over-the-top market share and is expected to remain dominant during the forecast period. This will increase demand for OTT services in the media and entertainment industry. However, the communication industry is expected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period due to an increase in demand for over-the-top services in the telecommunications industry for video calling, voice, and messaging services. During the forecast period, SmartTVs and set-top boxes dominated the market share. The larger screen and easy switching options between cable and OTT platforms. Furthermore, as smartphone penetration increased, smartphones became the second most popular device for streaming OTT platforms. They are also inexpensive, allowing people of all income levels to use smartphones and streaming platforms. During the forecasted period, subscription VOD is expected to manage the market. This is primarily due to an increase in the number of subscribers using over-the-top (OTT) platforms. Furthermore, due to the high demand for advertising videos for product and service promotion, advertisement-based VOD is steadily increasing. The market is divided into personal and commercial user types. The market is expected to be driven by the personal user segment. The growing use of smartphones and tablets, as well as easily accessible internet, raises the market's perception of OTT services for personal entertainment and knowledge.

According to Finding, the average UK household's broadband usage was more than 450 GB per month. That's more than 63 thousand 3 minute Spotify songs or 65 hours of UltraHD Netflix streaming. In the United Kingdom, more than 90% of adults had recently used the internet. In the United Kingdom, almost all adults aged 16 to 44 had recently used the internet (99%), compared to 54% of adults aged 75 and up. In the United Kingdom, over 6% of adults had never used the internet. London maintained the highest rate of recent internet use (95%), while Northern Ireland had the lowest (more than 80%).Subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) services such as Netflix and Disney+ were used by approximately 67% of UK households, down from a peak of approximately 68%. Following a surge in take-up in 2020, these services have broadly retained their share of viewing, accounting for around 18% of total TV viewing in 2021 (19% in 2020), or an average of around 58 minutes viewing per person per day. YouTube and Facebook continue to be the most popular social video platforms in the UK, reaching approximately 92% and 95% of UK internet users aged 15 and up, respectively. TikTok is still growing, reaching approximately 35% of adult internet users and 66% of online 15-14-year-olds.

The second season of Bridgerton saw even more binge-watching than the first. On the first weekend of the show's release on March 25, 2022, 876,000 UK Netflix accounts binged all eight episodes, 570,000 more than on the first weekend of season one (306,000). By the end of May 2022, 6.9 million households had watched the entire second season, making it the fourth highest UK reach of any title on Netflix in the first five months of the year. Stay Close achieved similar levels of viewing and bingeing, reaching 6.9 million households in Q1 2022, with 835,000 UK Netflix accounts watching all eight episodes in the show's first weekend and 2.1 million bingeing on it in the first week. More recently, the first seven episodes of Stranger Things season four, which premiered on May 27, 2022, were watched by 1.2 million UK households in their first weekend (Friday to Sunday), with 2.2 million UK households watching them within five days of release. By the end of June 2022, nearly half (49%) of UK Netflix accounts, or 7.6 million accounts, had watched the new season.

Increasing high-speed broadband penetration is expected to drive growth in the UK OTT content market during the forecast period. In recent years, there has been an increase in the availability of high-speed internet. Users benefit from having easy access to high-fidelity data networks with consistent speeds of 2-3 Mbps. Furthermore, the United Kingdom is expected to see similar penetration, with emerging economies expected to grow at a faster rate in the near future. Streaming licenced content can be both a major source of revenue and a major source of constraint for players in the Over the top Market.This is because the same licenced content is available on competing platforms. In terms of UK players, the licence fee paid to the foreign licensor would be considered royalty, and OTT service providers would be required to follow regional tax regulations when paying content producers or aggregators. The definition of content royalty between artists and OTT players prevents the creation of original content



During the COVID -19 pandemic, film studios and content creators have been hit hard by cinema complex/hall closures. National producers are increasingly turning to OTT to deal with the situation. The prolonged lockdowns and the current state of the economy have thrown open the doors to the world of entertainment via OTT. People are wary of going to theatres to watch entertainment content, so OTT media platforms have grown in popularity. Netflix, for example, has stepped in to fill the void. To reach viewers, entertainment content producers are turning to OTT service providers. With so many OTT services available to users, it is difficult to attract and retain new subscribers. Customers typically receive free or discounted introductory offers. Subscribers can sign up for a free trial and then cancel when it expires; in the meantime, a lack of new content drives away subscribers and the complex user interface can cause customers to unsubscribe from the service.

Considered in this report
• Geography: United Kingdom
• Historic year: 2017
• Base year: 2022
• Estimated year: 2023
• Forecast year: 2028

Aspects covered in this report
• United Kingdom Over The Top (OTT) market with its value and forecast along with its segments
• Various drivers and challenges
• On-going trends and developments
• Top profiled companies
• Strategic recommendation

By Type:
• AVOD (Advertising-based Video On Demand)
• SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand)
• TVOD (Transactional Video on Demand)
• Others

By Device Type:
• Smartphones and Tablets
• Desktops and Laptops
• Smart TVs & Set-Top Box
• Gaming Consoles & Streaming Devices

By Content Type:
• Video Streaming
• Game Streaming
• Audio Streaming
• Communication

By Service Verticals:
• Media and Entertainment
• Education and Learning
• Gaming
• Service Utilities

By User Type:
• Personal
• Commercial

By Component Type:
• Solution
• Services

The approach of the report:
This report consists of a combined approach of primary as well as secondary research. Initially, secondary research was used to get an understanding of the market and list out the companies that are present in the market. The secondary research consists of third-party sources such as press releases, and annual reports of companies, analyzing the government-generated reports and databases. After gathering the data from secondary sources primary research was conducted by making telephonic interviews with the leading players about how the market is functioning and then conducting trade calls with dealers and distributors of the market. Post this we have started doing primary calls to consumers by equally segmenting consumers into regional aspects, tier aspects, age groups, and gender. Once we have primary data with us we started verifying the details obtained from secondary sources.

Intended audience
This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations & organizations related to the Over The Top (OTT) industry, government bodies, and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing & presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.