Unshockingly, subscriptions to streaming services across the globe have skyrocketed according to the annual theme report of the Motion Pictures Association industry trade group.
For the first time, the number of active streaming subscription accounts surpassed one billion and reached 1.1 billion globally. That surge comes at the cost of a 72% year-over-year decline in global box-office with ticket sales tapping out at $12 billion ($2.2 billion of which came from North America).
Combined, the global theatrical business and home and mobile entertainment market totalled $80.8 billion in revenues in 2020, shrinking by 18% from $98.3 billion in 2019.
The success of digital home entertainment, growing 23% to $68.8 billion, helped offset depleted theatrical box office. In the U.S., subscriptions surged and reached 308.6 million – a 32% increase from 2019.
In Asian countries, particularly China and to a lesser extent Japan, box-office has already returned to pre-pandemic levels. It’s expected other parts of the world will start returning to some form of normality in the back half of the year.
Source: Variety
