Julia Stoll
Research expert covering TV and video media
Video streaming in the Netherlands - statistics & facts
Dutch audiences have a lot of options for watching video content. Not only are there several video streaming services to choose from, but these have also increased in popularity in recent years. While broadcast TV consumption remained quite stable, the share of consumers streaming movies, TV shows, and programs in the Netherlands grew by five percentage points between 2020 and 2022, with subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) being the largest segment in the country.
The crowded video streaming market
Out of more than 50 video-on-demand platforms in the Netherlands, Netflix is by far the largest provider. According to the most recent data, the international streaming giant amassed over 3.3 million subscriptions in the region. The second most popular video-on-demand service – local platform Videoland owned by German company RTL – only recorded a third of that amount. However, while Netflix’s user share in the Netherlands slowed down somewhat recently, Videoland’s consumer base grew by 12 percentage points between 2019 and 2022. Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, which arrived in the country before it did in the U.S. and Canada, as well as public broadcaster’s streaming service NPO Start Plus, concluded the top five. Furthermore, the two newcomers, U.S-based HBO Max and Swedish Viaplay, quickly gained popularity as well by reaching user shares of over 10 percent.SVOD is still top
Despite the Dutch market also recording subscriber churns recently, the SVOD segment has not struggled as much as in other countries worldwide. While a survey from 2022 found that the cost was the most named reason in the Netherlands to cancel a video streaming subscription, the main drivers to pay for a streaming service were the possibility to watch what and when they want, as well as fewer ads, showing the current importance of subscription on-demand platforms. Moreover, respondents to another survey had mixed feelings about the launch of the ad-supported model of Videoland in 2020, and the same could be observed with Netflix’s newly launched ad-based tier. Pay-per-view, on the other hand, is less popular in the Netherlands, with nearly three in four people interviewed in 2021 stating to have not used TVOD platforms such as local Pathé Thuis and international iTunes to rent or buy films online. Forecasts show that although ad-supported and transactional video streaming options will increase in value in the years to come, SVOD remains king.
