(Reuters) – Streaming subscriber growth in the United States halved last year to 10.1%, data from research firm Antenna showed, in another sign that the boom might be over for the industry in the key market.
Growth in the premium subscription-video-on-demand category slowed from 21.6% in 2022, but its overall growth has more than doubled in four years, signaling a steady resubscription trend.
Streaming giant Netflix, Comcast-owned Peacock and Paramount Global’s Paramount+ drove the most growth with total subscriptions at 242.9 million at the end of 2023.
Antenna said streaming was entering a new phase of sobriety.
From being hyper-focused on acquisition to draw in a mass audience, the same players are now shifting focus to managing subscribers, it said.
At the start of the streaming boom, companies focused on pumping money into creating swathes of content to draw and retain subscribers. Customers also signed up to services during the pandemic while homebound with theaters being inaccessible.
Since then and with the twin Hollywood strikes last year, companies have been looking to keep content spend low while also pushing their ad-offerings to draw in revenue.
(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
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