Australia’s love affair with streaming: 71% have paid service

Australia’s love affair with streaming continues to thrive with a new report from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) showing 71% of Australians with a TV set in the home used at least one paid video streaming service in 2019.

One in 10 Australians had four or more subscription services in the home in 2019, up from just four per cent in 2017. Overall 83% of Australian internet users reported viewing either paid or unpaid video content online in the past six months.

In the three months to 30 June 2019, Australians downloaded a total of almost six million terabytes of data, enough to watch around 2.2 billion hours of high-definition video. Of that data, more than 88% was downloaded through fixed internet services.

This data and other insights were published today in the ACMA Communications report 2018–19, which provides a comprehensive profile of Australia’s communications and media sector.

ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said the report shows the ongoing importance of Australia’s fixed network.

“Australians are using their fixed internet connections for data-hungry applications such as video streaming and are spending more time watching content online,” O’Loughlin said.

“Online video and use of smart devices is exploding in popularity as high-speed networks are creating markets for new, innovative services across the Australian economy.

“It’s clear that Australians have embraced technology which is helping drive demand for faster internet.”

The report also shows Australians are increasingly reliant on mobile phones to get online with 87% accessing the internet over their phone compared with 69% for laptops.

The communications report can be downloaded here.