MPA Report Shows Impact Of Streaming With Growth In Subscriptions, Production; Theatrical Box Office Rises But Still Lags Pre-Covid Levels
14.03.2022 - 17:57
/ deadline.com
The Motion Picture Association’s annual theme report shows what is readily apparent across the industry: The impact of streaming.
The U.S. and Canadian box office reached $4.5 billion, up 105 percent from 2020, but still lower than pre-pandemic levels.
But the combined theatrical and home and mobile market was $36.8 billion in 2021, surpassing the pre-Covid figure of $36.1 billion in 2019. Read the full report here.
In 2021, the number of online video subscriptions, or streaming, in the U.S. increased to 353.2 million, up 14% from 2020. The number of virtual pay TV subscriptions — like those offered by YouTube TV and Hulu — also increased to 14.5 million, up 18% from 2020.
Meanwhile, cable and satellite subscriptions showed a slight decrease.
In revenue, online video subscription revenue even surpassed that of satellite, an increase of 24% to $40.2 billion. Cable TV was still the largest subscription revenue market, but it was down 3% to $49.0 billion.
The MPA report also includes a number of other data points to show the growth of streaming. A total of 1,826 original series were released in 2021, including 559 scripted shows. That was an increase of 15% from 2020, which the association was due in part to production for online services. Last year, those streaming services produced a total of 693 series, compared to 451 a year earlier. Cable and satellite had 887 series, versus 910 in 2020, and there were 246 broadcast series, up slightly from 228 in 2020.
The streaming services produced 179 original films exclusively to their platforms last year. That is comparable to a year earlier, but a 60% increase from 2019. Since the start of the pandemic, 53% of adults in the U.S. reported that their viewing of movies and TV shows on a