The video entertainment streaming service Disney+ is set to launch in Finland next week, but the newcomer will face some stiff competition from services already drawing viewers' attention spans--as well as their monthly subscription fees.
Video streaming subscription services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV+ and HBO Nordic have been available in Finland for years, not to mention Ruutu+ Dplay, Viaplay and CMore which collectively offer countless hours of movies, television shows and sporting events.
However, after decades of acquisitions and investments in entertainment powerhouses, Disney+ can offer viewers exclusive content including libraries of franchises such as Star Wars, Marvel, the entire Simpson's canon as well as decades of classic Disney movies and programmes.
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Streaming part of landscape
Streaming services are now major players attracting the attention of TV viewers in Finland, according to the CEO of TV ratings firm Finnpanel, Lena Brun. In addition to measuring how many people watch cable and terrestrial television shows, Finnpanel started monitoring viewership of Netflix, HBO Nordic and YouTube at the end of last year.
Brun said that nearly one million households in the country subscribe to at least one streaming service.
"By far, the most popular is Netflix, which one-third of households subscribe to. Other [services] play smaller roles. But, HBO Nordic, for example, is in about 10 percent of households," she explained.
However, Brun noted that subscribers are often fickle and known to cancel subscriptions when they lose interest and move on to other services.
"Households definitely have a certain budget limit they're willing to pay for content," she explained.
Video streaming services are most commonly subscribed to by younger adults between the ages of 25-45 as well as families with children.
Household habits
Young adult Mika Nygård, who lives in Vaasa, said he uses streaming services to watch sports, TV series and movies.
"In our house right now, we have Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Nordic, AppleTV+ and Ruutu+. And you have to watch Yle Areena," Nygård said, referring to the national broadcaster's video and audio streaming platform, Areena, which is--apart from the annual Yle tax--available free of charge.
Nygård said that if there isn't anything offered on HBO's or Amazon's services which he's interested in, he simply cancels his subscription.
The Nurmi family said it also subscribes to several streaming outlets. Ten-year-old Nuutti Nurmi said he enjoys watching Viaplay for sporting events like NFL American football games.
His father, Tero Nurmi, said it would be great if everything they watched could be available on a single service.
"But that's impossible," he conceded.
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Market shares and service switches
Meanwhile, ratings firm chief Brun said that Disney+ will have a difficult time gaining traction in Finland, but reckoned that people will sign up at first out of curiosity and perhaps be tempted by Disney's offer of a discounted annual subscription before it launches on 14 September.
Netflix's big slice of market share will be a challenge for new players, according to Turku University media researcher Heidi Keinonen, who said that it remains to be seen how Disney will gain a foothold in the market.
Disney+ debuted in the US at the end of last autumn and the firm claims to have already reached 60 million subscribers there. But that is still a fraction of Netflix's 183 million subscribers in the United States.
Keinonen added that the number of streaming services may soon reach overflow, as there won't be enough viewers to consume all the content on they're being offered.
"People have a limited number of hours a day, even though the use of audiovisual content is increasing all the time. I think that at least initially, people will be interested in seeing what Disney+ has to offer," Keinonen said.
Nygård said he plans to wait and see what Disney+ has to offer before he signs up for a subscription.
"[Disney's Star Wars TV series] The Mandalorian interests me, but if it's the only thing on there, then I'll certainly wait to see if the whole thing is available on the service and only subscribe for a month [to watch it]," Nygård explained.
Likewise, Tero Nurmi said he doesn't think the family will subscribe to Disney's year-long subscription package at launch and that one subscription would need to be cancelled if they did sign up.
"Right now, everyone in our family has their own service to watch. My wife watches Dplay, the kids Netflix, and I'm interested in sports," Nurmi said.